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187 


AMERICA 


BEFORE    EUROPE 


PRINCIPLES   AND   INTERESTS. 


COUNT  AGENOR  DE  GASPARIN. 


TRANSLATED     FROM     ADVANCE     SHEETS,      BY 


MAEY    L.  BOOTH. 


NEW  YORK: 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER,    124    GRAND    STREET. 

1862. 


Entered,  according  to  act  of  Corses, 

SCE1BNEE, 


,  ,n  the  year  1862,  * 


JOHN  F. 


50  Greene  Str 
York. 


PREFACE. 


MY  first  work  on  the  United  States  awaited  its  comple 
tion  ;  what  I  had  affirmed  before  events,  it  was  important 
to  establish  afterward ;  the  demonstration  a  posteriori 
was  to  finish  what  had  been  begun  by  the  argument  a 
priori. 

T*w  books  have  passed  through  such  an  ordeal  as 
has  been  endured  by  my  Uprising  of  a  Great  People. 
Whether  it  has  stood  the  test  well  or  ill,  is  not  for  me  to 
say.  Has  the  crisis  which  we  are  witnessing  the  char 
acter  of  an  uprising  ?  The  reader  will  judge. 

The  encouragement  which  has  come  to  me  from 
America,  and  for  which  I  can  never  show  myself  suffi 
ciently  grateful,  has  had  something  to  do  with  my  reso 
lution  to  write  this  new  volume.*  It  seems  to  me,  as  to 
those  who  have  addressed  me  so  many  kind  invitations, 

*  I  owe  thanks  to  those  persons  from  whom  I  have  been  continually 
in  the  receipt  of  information  of  all  kinds.  I  have  been  particularly  grati 
fied  with  the  collection  of  official  documents  which  the  Secretary  of 
State,  Mr.  Seward,  has  had  the  kindness  to  send  me. 


IV  PREFACE. 

that  the  time  has  come  to  treat  the  question  in  the  Eu 
ropean  point  of  view.  It  is  at  the  moment  when  the  issue 
of  the  conflict  is  still  uncertain  that  it  is  important  to  set 
forth  the  principles  which  it  involves ;  later,  whether  suc 
cessful  or  disastrous,  the  fact  alone  will  appear,  the  right 
will  be  forgotten. 

Thank  God !  the  truth  of  the  study  which  I  publish  does 
not  depend  on  events ;  it  does  not  place  me  under  the  ne 
cessity  of  being  right  in  case  of  success,  and  wrong  in  case 
of  disaster.  Through  changing  things,  I  seek  that  which 
will  endure.  My  theories  will  subsist,  whatever  may  be 
the  result  of  the  campaign  in  Virginia  and  Tennessee. 

Woe  to  us  when  we  make  up  our  mind  to  suit  the 
calculation  of  probabilities,  when  we  ask,  "  Which  will 
prevail  ?  "  instead  of  asking,  "  Which  is  right  ?  "  It  does 
not  depend  on  us  to  succeed,  but  to  obey.  "  Do  what 
thou  ought,"  is  the  true  maxim ;  I  know  none  more 
luminous,  either  in  politics  or  elsewhere.  And  mark 
that  obedience  to  duty  is  the  highway  to  success ;  our 
principles,  in  fine,  are  the  best  guardians  of  our  interests. 

I  have  always  liked  the  method  which,  in  the  entan 
gled  affairs  of  earth,  puts  aside  what  is  accidental  to  cling 
to  what  is  substantial  and  durable,  which  evolves  noth 
ing  but  Avhat  is  true  in  itself,  and  must  remain  true, 
whatever  may  be  said,  may  be  done,  or  may  happen. 

When,  to-day,  after  a  long  and  suffering  year,*  I  cast 

*  To-day,  the  4th  of  March,  as  I  finish  this  volume  and  put  it  to 
press,  a  year  has  just  been  completed  since  Mr.  Lincoln  took  possession 
of  the  Presidency. 


PREFACE.  V 

my  eyes  backward,  I  see  the  soil  strewn  with  prophe 
cies  ;  those  foretelling  easy  triumphs  have  fallen  by  the 
side  of  those  foretelling  irreparable  defeats.  Able  men 
have  not  ceased  to  tell  us,  "All  is  lost,"  until  the  precise 
moment  when  with  the  same  assurance  (and  the  same 
infallibility)  they  have  begun  to  say  to  us,  "  All  is  saved !" 
I  wrote  my  first  pages  to  the  sound  of  death  warrants 
pronounced  universally  against  the  United  States ;  I  have 
just  written  the  last  to  the  sound  of  the  acclamations  of 
those  who  think  that  the  United  States  will  soon  be  out 
of  the  .affair,  and  that  there  will  be  nothing  difficult  left 
for  them  to  accomplish. 

Convinced  that  the  troubled  sea  is  not  calmed  in  an 
hour ;  knowing,  too,  that  external  triumph  is  of  no  value  if 
it  be  not  also  triumphant  in  the  region  of  ideas,  I  have 
not  hesitated  to  continue  my  work.  For  ourselves,  as 
well  as  for  America,  it  is  important  to  dissipate  certain 
errors  which  have  too  long  prevailed  in  Europe,  and 
which,  we  may  say,  still  prevail  there.  Let  no  one  deceive 
himself;  the  thought  of  meddling  in  the  American  quar 
rel  is  by  no  means  so  fully  abandoned  as  it  seems ;  if  de 
cisive  successes  be  long  in  coming,  if  the  sufferings  of  our 
manufactures  become  aggravated,  if  the  Mexican  expedi 
tion  produce  irritation,  the  peril  will  be  grave  anew. 
There  are  more  men  in  Europe  than  are  imagined  who 
at  heart  desire  the  weakening  and  parcelling  out  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  would  not  fear,  should  opportu 
nity  offer,  to  encourage  the  resistance  of  the  South,  and 
contribute  to  the  prolongation  of  the  civil  war  by  mani- 


VI  PREFACE. 

festing  the  conviction  that  the  separation  (that  is,  the 
Southern  programme)  must  necessarily  prevail.  How 
combat  these  always  persistent  and  menacing  errors? 
By  enlightening  minds,  by  treating  of  questions  little  un 
derstood,  by  recalling  imperfectly  known  facts.  Public 
opinion  is  our  force  ;  it  has  sufficed,  it  will  suffice. 

We  have  vast  interests  in  America ;  the  American 
crisis  has  aspects  which  have  not  been  sufficiently  re 
marked  ;  it  affects  us  everywhere,  through  the  United 
States  and  through  Mexico,  through  present  and  future 
complications.  The  question  is  not  only  to  sound  there 
those  destinies  of  democracy  which  have  fixed  the  atten 
tion  of  our  political  philosophers  since  De  Tocqueville ; 
other  problems  no  less  grave  are  implicated  in  the  discus 
sion.  I  have  endeavored  to  examine  them  on  the  way. 

Whether  the  United  States  prevail  decidedly,  or  suffer 
new  reverses,  whether  Europe  repudiate  irrevocably  the 
tendencies  which  had  so  nearly  won  her  over,  or  again 
experience  in  a  few  months  the  temptation  to  intervene, 
it  will  be  by  no  means  useless  for  us  to  take  account  of 
the  faults  of  the  past,  which  may  be,  let  us  beware !  the 
dangers  of  the  future. 

I  have  twice  undertaken  this  work.  On  learning  of 
the  Trent  affair,  I  threw  my  MS.  in  the  fire  ;  I  have  since 
recommenced  it  with  firmer  assurance.  Have  we  not  seen 
with  our  own  eyes  the  power  that  is  at  our  disposal  ?  At 
the  first  cry  of  alarm  uttered  by  the  public  conscience, 
have  not  evil  passions  and  lying  interests  recoiled  ?  Cour 
age  !  they  will  again  recoil.  In  proportion  as  the  char- 


PREFACE.  Vii 

acter  of  the  American  struggle  is  better  manifested,  the 
sympathies  of  the  Old  World  will  be  better  called  forth. 

I  think  with  Seneca  that  "  it  is  not  the  storm  but  the 
nausea  that  wearies  us."  What  wearied  us  in  America 
was  the  spectacle  of  ignoble  discussions,  the  progressive 
debasement  of  a  people  tossing  about  without  advancing. 
But  since  it  has  advanced,  even  in  the  midst  of  the  hurri 
cane,  our  moral  lassitude  has  ceased. 

America  will  escape  the  storms  which  have  assailed  it. 
It  has  been  granted  me  to  encourage  it  at  the  dark  hour 
of  peril  and  abandonment ;  should  it  be  granted  me  now 
to  win  its  welcome  to  counsels  offered  by  a  sincere  friend, 
I  should  consider  this  second  privilege  still  more  precious 
than  the  first. 

Au  RITAGE,  March  4,  1862. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  FIRST. 

EUROPE  AND  THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS — A   CONSCIENTIOUS 
EXAMINATION. 

PAGE 

CHAP.      I.   The  Attitude  of  Europe, 1 

II.   What  should  have  been  the  Attitude  of  Europe,  .      19 

III.   How  the  Attitude  of  Europe  is  to  be  explained,  .      26 

IY.    Belligerents  and  Neutrality,          .  .  .  .42 

V.  Blockades, 63 

VI.  Conclusion  of  the  First  Part,         .  .  .  .82 


PART  SECOND. 

ENGLAND. 

CHAP.      I.    Two  Nations  in  England,   .           .           .           .     *    .  90 

II.   Conduct  of  England, 101 

III.  True  Motives  of  the  Conduct  of  England,             .           .  122 

IV.  The  Trent,                                      •                                   .  129 


X  CONTENTS. 

PART  THIRD. 

ERRORS  CEEDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

PAGE 

CHAP.      I.  Slavery  is  not  really  in  question,  .           .  .           .159 

II.  We  are,  before  all,  to  avoid  Civil  War,    .  .           .205 

III.  The  South  had  a  right  to  secede,              .  .           .211 

IV.  The  South,  though  conquered,  will  not  be  brought  back 

to  the  Union, 235 

V.  The  South  will  not  be  conquered,            .  .           .261 

PART  FOURTH. 

THE   INTERESTS   OF   EUROPE   IN    AMERICA. 

CHAP.      I.   Europe  in  America,            .            .            .  .            .299 

II.   Return  to  the  old  Colonial  Policy,            .  .            .306 

III.  Influence  of  Spain,              .            .            .  .    310 

IV.  St.  Domingo  and  Mexico,  .           .           .  .           .314 

PART  FIFTH. 

TO      AMERICANS. 

CHAP.      I.   Crisis  of  the  Uprising,        .           .           .  .           .323 

II.   Maintenance  of  Free  Institutions,             .  .           .337 

III.  Abolition  of  Slavery,          .            .            .  .            .347 

IV.  Greatness  of  the  Future, 367 

PART  SIXTH. 

TO      CHRISTIANS. 

CHAP.      I.   Attitude  of  Christians  in  America,           .  .           .381 

II.  Attitude  of  Christians  in  England,           .  .           .394 

III.  Social  Mission  of  Christians,         .           .  .           .399 


CONTENTS.  XI 

PAGE 

GENERAL  CONCLUSION,       .  .....    405 

DOCUMENTARY   EVIDENCE. 

I.   Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Adams,  .  .  .  .  .  .411 

II.   Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton,  .  .  .  .413 

III.  Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Adams, 416 

IV.  Mr.  Black's  Circular, 41(5 

V.   On  the  Mexican  Expedition, 419 


AMERICA  IN  THE   SIGHT  OF  EUROPE. 


PART     FIRST. 
EUROPE  AND  THE  AMERICAN  CRISIS. 

CHAPTER    I. 

THE     ATTITUDE     OF     EUROPE. 

WHEN,  last  March,  I  pointed  out  without  hesitation  to 
one  sympathies  of  men  of  heart,  the  uprising  of  a  great 
people,  I  was  not  yielding  to  the  absurd  fancy  of  pro 
pounding  a  paradox,  but  obeying  the  need  of  proclaim 
ing  a  great  and  serious  truth  ;  of  proclaiming  it  at  the 
very  hour  when  it  was  about  to  be  almost  universally 
misunderstood.  The  lovers  of  paradoxes  seldom  seek 
after  negro  emancipation ;  to  maintain  that  slavery  has 
its  good  sides,  to  take  in  hand  the  cause  of  the  South, 
to  chafe  at  the  common  places  of  philanthropists  and 
Christians,  makes  a  fine  show — all  the  piquant  theories 
are  found  on  this  side. 

When,  later,  I  published  the  second  edition  of  my 
book,  the  time  seemed  ill-chosen  to  persevere  in  my  op 
timism.  There  had  ceased  to  be  but  one  opinion  on  the 
desperate  condition  of  the  United  States.  Their  armies 
had  been  defeated,  their  capital  was  menaced ;  we  heard 
of  nothing  but  the  lack  of  discipline  of  the  troops,  the  in- 


2  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

capacity  of  the  Government,  and  the  waste  of  the  public 
funds ;  riots  were  predicted  in  the  large  cities ;  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery  seemed  ready  to  shatter  in  a  thousand 
pieces  the  momentary  unanimity  of  the  North ;  lastly, 
winter  was  approaching,  we  were  about  to  enter  upon 
those  terrible  six  months,  from  December  to  June,  which 
had  always  been  designated  as  destined  to  bring  some 
sort  of  a  European  intervention  in  favor  of  the  South. 
I  had  then  to  ask  myself  whether  my  first  thought  had 
not  been  an  illusion,  and  whether  events  had  not  given 
me  the  lie.  It  was  the  time  to  beat  a  prudent  retreat,  or 
at  least  to  confess  that  the  unexpected  turn  of  the  crisis 
had  weakened  my  hopes.  But  the  fact  was  that  my  hopes 
were  not  weakened ;  aside  from  Europe,  where  the  man 
ufacturing  interest  was  beginning  to  clamor  loudly,  and  a 
storm  was  visibly  forming,  no  legitimate  cause  of  dis 
couragement  presented  itself  to  my  mind.  I  have  the 
weakness  to  believe  in  the  final  success  of  good  causes,  in 
spite  of  their  passing  decay.  I  know  of  something  here 
below  that  is  stronger  than  armies.  I  know  of  Some  One 
on  high  whose  blessing  signifies  more  than  the  sympathies 
of  great  powers.  Such  was  the  reason  of  my  obstinacy, 
which  was  inscribed  in  most  unequivocal  terms  in  the  pre 
face  to  the  new  edition.  After  proving  that  Europe  had 
become  the  only  serious  danger  to  America,  I  concluded 
in  this  wise :  "  For  the  present,  I  have  only  sought  to  re 
peat  with  a  strengthened  conviction,  what  I  said  a  few 
months  ago ;  then  I  believed  in  the  uprising  of  a  great 
people,  now  I  am  sure  of  it." 

If  I  refer  to  these  precedents,  it  is  not  because  I  take 
delight  in  speaking  of  myself;  on  the  contrary,  I  abhor  it, 
and  hope  never  to  revert  to  the  subject ;  neither  is  it 
because  I  pretend  to  set  myself  up  as  a  prophet,  but  be 
cause  of  the  importance  of  establishing  the  fundamental 


THE    ATTITUDE    OF   EUEOPE.  3 

theory  which  I  advocate  as  a  deliberate  opinion,  adopt 
ed  after  mature  reflection,  and  maintained  before  and 
after  the  occurrence  of  events. 

Of  the  two  great  crises  which  the  uprising  of  the 
United  States  had  to  encounter  in  the  beginning, 
one,  the  American  crisis,  is  already  left  behind ;  its 
greatest  difficulties  are  surmounted,  as  I  shall  have  no 
trouble  to  prove.  The  other,  the  European  crisis,  is 
not  yet  at  an  end  ;  far  from  it,  although  the  incidents  of 
the  Trent,  which  was  near  destroying  every  thing,  may 
have  furnished  the  means  of  safety  by  casting  a  sudden 
and  beneficent  light  upon  the  dangerous  complicated 
positions  caused  by  misunderstandings. 

It  is,  therefore,  most  of  all  in  Europe,  and  for  Europe, 
that  the  American  question  should  be  studied  to-day. 
Europe  has  just  made  a  sad  campaign.  We  had  thought 
ourselves  justified  in  saying,  without  exaggerating  its 
chivalrous  sentiments,  that  the  cause  of  the  South  would 
excite  in  it  a  hearty  indignation  ;  that  this  rebellion 
in  favor  of  slavery  would  meet  naught  but  anathemas 
among  us ;  that  the  nineteenth  century  would  not  suffer 
this  single  occasion  to  be  lost  of  seconding  otherwise  than 
by  words  the  most  glorious  work  of  modern  times.  We 
were  mistaken  ;  the  narrow  policy  too  often  prevails  over 
the  broad.  Instead  of  entering  frankly  into  the  path  of 
large  sympathies,  instead  of  encouraging,  instead  of  be 
lieving  in  good,  which  is  one  of  the  surest  means  of  doing 
it,  Europe  has  chosen  rather  to  be  suspicious,  to  find 
fault,  to  recall  old  grievances,  to  gather  up  new  com 
plaints,  to  treat,  in  fine,  as  an  enemy  or  a  suspected  power, 
this  youthful  Government,  sprung  from  a  generous  reac 
tion  against  injustice,  and  charged  with  pursuing  its  re- 
dressal.  It  was  first  necessary  to  love  it,  in  order  to 


4  EUROPE    AND   THE    AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

counsel  it,  and  to  aid  it  to  become  better.  Supported  by 
us,  it  would  have  proceeded  without  hindrance  to  its  end ; 
not  to  immediate  abolition,  as  has  been  pretended,  but  to 
certain  abolition,  through  the  growing  preponderance  of 
the  North,  through  the  abrogation  of  odious  laws, 
through  the  inevitable  and  progressive  suppression  of 
slavery,  confined  within  a  continually  narrowing  circle. 
On  the  day  that  it  was  decided  that  it  should  no  longer 
increase,  slavery  would  have  begun  to  die,  yet  it  would 
not  have  died  a  death  of  violence — gently,  tranquilly, 
by  pacific  and  Christian  means,  the  redoubtable  problem 
would  have  been  resolved,  for  the  common  safety  of  the 
North  and  the  South,  the  whites  and  the  blacks. 

We  did  not  desire  this.  To  desire  it  would  have 
been  to  quit  the  beaten  track  and  depart  from  the  pre 
cepts  of  false  policy.  A  most  impolitic  policy  in  any 
case  ;  for,  to  speak  only  of  our  material  interests,  it  has 
endowed  us  with  the  civil  war  which  is  desolating  Amer 
ica,  ruining  the  cotton  production,  and  calling  forth 
sufferings  in  our  Old  World  which  will  go  on  increasing. 
If  the  South  had  known  in  advance  that  it  could  not 
count  on  us,  it  is  not  probable  that  it  would  have  attempt 
ed  an  insurrection.  At  all  events,  this  would  not  have 
been  of  long  duration.  It  deludes  itself  less  than  people 
imagine ;  it  knows  the  strength  ot  the  national  Govern 
ment,  and  is  not  ignorant  that  resources  will  ere  long  be 
lacking  to  the  insurrectional  government  at  Richmond. 
Even  its  victories  have  never  given  it  the  audacity  to 
take  a  single  step  in  advance — its  plan  is  to  secure  time 
for  Europe  to  intervene.  Europe  needs  its  cotton, 
Europe  is  at  its  mercy,  Europe  is  about  to  aid  and  recog 
nize  it,  Europe  will  seize  on  the  first  pretext  that  offers  ; 
she  will  break  the  blockade  and  impose  peace.  Take  away 
these  convictions  from  the  South  and  you  will  cause  the 


THE    ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  5 

weapons  to  fall  from  their  hands.  Suppose  Europe,  for  a 
moment,  not  to  exist,  and  America  to  be  a  duelling  ground 
in  which  no  one  can  interfere,  and  you  can  no  longer 
imagine  possible  a  continuance  of  the  struggle. 

Four  months  will  suffice  for  the  reduction  of  the 
South,  from  the  day  that  it  shall  have  ceased  to  count  on 
Europe.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Seward  has  more  than  once 
expressed  this  conviction.  I  believe  it  to  be  well  found 
ed,  as  well  founded  as  that  noble  complaint  in  the  last 
message  of  Mr.  Lincoln :  "  Every  nation  distracted  by 
civil  war  must  expect  to  be  treated  without  consideration 
by  foreign  powers." 

"What  is  it,  then,  that  has  gone  wrong  among  us  ? 
Simply  that  we  have  been  lacking  in  youth  of  heart.  In 
stead  of  asking  on  which  side  were  justice  and  liberty, 
we  have  hastened  to  ask  on  which  side  were  our  inter 
ests,  then  too  on  which  side  were  the  best  chances  of 
success.  It  seemed  to  us  that  this  rebellion  without  a 
pretext  was  not  without  a  future.  From  this  we  had  not 
to  go  far  to  find  in  it  some  appearance  of  right.  And 
thus  it  is  that,  after  having  protested  for  the  acquittal  of 
our  conscience  against  the  "  crime  of  slavery,"  after  hav 
ing  declared  (the  thing  is  granted)  that  slavery  is  de 
tested  by  those  who,  moroever,  never  fail  to  serve  it,  we 
have  refused  to  the  generous  impulse  of  the  North  that 
spontaneous,  cordial,  and,  as  it  were,  naive  support  which 
would  have  decided  all  questions  on  the  spot. 

I  have  long  been  acquainted  with  those  declamations 
against  slavery  which  never  end  in  any  manly  action,  and 
I  know  them  for  what  they  are  worth.  The  orators  who 
labored  to  maintain  slavery  in  our  colonies,  all  com 
menced  by  an  almost  abolition  profession  of  faith ;  and 
later  still,  at  the  time  of  the  importation  of  free  negroes 


6  EUROPE   AND   THE    AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

from  the  coast  of  Africa,  which  was  finally  ended  by  the 
letter  of  the  emperor,  the  writers  who  advocated  the 
measure  scarcely  ever  failed  to  begin  by  stigmatizing  the 
slave  trade.  Was  this  hypocrisy  ?  No.  The  absence 
of  strong  convictions  suffices  for  its  explanation.  Men 
would  be  glad  for  slavery  to  disappear  ;  they  hope  that 
it  will  disappear ;  it  will  do  so  by  itself  if  no  one  meddles 
with  it.  It  is  by  such  reasoning  that  interests  constantly 
gain  the  victory  over  principles. 

Now,  interests  always  stand  in  the  way  of  principles ; 
the  question  is  to  override  them.  God  wishes  progress 
to  cost  us  something.  It  is  true  that  it  will  some 
day  bring  back  much  more  than  it  has  cost ;  but  in  the 
mean  time  it  has  its  costs,  and  we  are  forced  to  begin 
with  the  sacrifice.  Were  it  otherwise,  duty  would  be  too 
easy. 

Here,  the  sacrifice  to  be  made  is  more  apparent  than 
real.  No  matter,  the  appearance  is  enough,  as  the  move 
ments  of  our  manufacturing  towns  have  proved  for  some 
months  past.  In  France,  as  in  England,  have  there  not 
been  moments  when  they  have  taken  the  rebellion  of  the 
South  under  their  protection  ?  Have  they  not  urged  the 
recognition  of  the  South  ?  Have  they  not  demanded  the 
suppression  of  the  blockade  ? 

In  France,  as  in  England,  public  opinion  has  bent  more 
or  less  to  the  same  side.  There  have  been  noble  excep 
tions,  I  know,  and  they  are  becoming  less  rare ;  never 
theless,  taking  facts  as  a  w^hole,  we  are  forced  to  admit 
that  the  government  of  Mr.  Lincoln  has  not  met  the 
sympathetic  support  among  us  on  which  it  seemed  to  have 
a  right  to  count. 

I  must  seek  with  care  for  the  causes  of  this  coldness. 
By  the  side  of  interests  imperfectly  understood,  we  find 
errors  systematically  propagated,  which  have  succeeded 


THE    ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  1 

in  gaining  acceptance  in  Europe,  and  which  it  is  high  time 
to  refute.  Have  we  not  been  persuaded,  or  very  nearly 
so,  that  slavery  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  quarrel  of  the 
North  and  South  ?  Have  we  not  been  made  to  believe 
that  the  South,  in  seceding,  availed  itself  of  its  right? 
Has  not  the  impossibility  of  conquering  th,e  South  been 
raised  to  the  rank  of  an  axiom  ?  Has  not  that  been  de 
termined  on  the  spot  in  the  name  of  Europe,  which  Amer 
ica  alone  is  in  the  position  to  decide ;  namely,  that  the 
South,  even  though  conquered,  cannot  be  brought  back  to 
the  Union  ? 

I  do  not  misunderstand,  as  will  be  presently  seen,  the 
complex  character  of  this  last  question.  Neither  do  I 
misunderstand  the  importance  of  the  interests  which  rest 
upon  the  policy  of  governments.  Do  those  who  speak  in 
ironical  terms  of  calico  and  cotton  forget  that  behind  cot 
ton  are  men,  women,  and  children — miseries  already  great, 
and  which  will  go  on  increasing  ?  Do  they  comprehend 
the  significance  of  the  words — deficiency  of  raw  material, 
restriction  of  markets,  stoppage  of  manufactories,  dis 
charge  of  workmen,  diminution  of  wages  ?  As  for  me, 
I  hope  that  the  feeling  of  the  rights  of  the  negro  will 
never  make  me  close  my  eyes  to  the  sufferings  of  the 
white  man.  These  sufferings,  I  may  say,  have  not  ceased 
to  weigh  for  a  year  past  upon  my  saddened  imagination, 
and  not  the  least  evil,  in  my  eyes,  of  the  attitude  adopted 
by  Europe,  is  that  of  having  prolonged  the  manufacturing 
and  commercial  crisis  by  avoiding  to  discourage  the  re 
bellion. 

One  would  have  said  that  Europe  leaped  with  joy  at 
the  thought  of  rending  the  United  States  in  twain.  From 
the  first  moment,  she  seemed  to  cling  to  this  idea  and  to 
be  unwilling  to  renounce  it.  That  the  scheme  may  per- 


8  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

haps  be  realized,  I  have  no  wish  to  deny.  Men  who  fear  a 
republic  of  a  hundred  million  men  may  be  tranquil ;  what 
ever  is  too  large  must  necessarily  fall  apart.  Those  who 
fear  that  a  portion  of  the  country  may  be  maintained  in  the 
Union  by  force  alone  may  reassure  themselves  ;  a  territory 
representing  in  surface  one-half  of  the  United  States  will 
not  be  kept  garrisoned ;  if  the  Southern  people  really  wish 
to  separate,  their  wishes,  expressed  in  a  legitimate  man 
ner,  will  not  fail  to  prevail,  and  this  for  the  excellent  rea 
son  that  no  person  in  the  world  would  succeed  in  oppos* 
ing  them.  But  these  are  not  the  questions  which  the 
present  crisis  has  put  to  us  Europeans.  When  a  friendly 
government,  attacked  against  all  right,  attacked  in  the 
name  of  an  odious  principle,  fulfils  the  simplest  of  its  du 
ties  in  suppressing  the  revolt,  the  only  question  raised  is 
this:  "Shall  right  prevail  over  injustice,  and  liberty  over 
slavery  ?  "  Later,  I  repeat,  after  the  suppression  of  the 
reign  of  terror  which  rules  in  a  portion  of  the  South,  it 
will  be  time  for  free  America  to  examine  whether  the 
tendencies  which  prevail  in  some  of  the  States  do  not 
constitute,  in  default  of  a  right,  a  sort  of  political  neces 
sity  to  which  political  wisdom  should  know  how  to  sub 
mit. 

For  my  part,  I  have  no  opinion  to  give ;  although 
I  have  followed  the  progress  of  ideas  and  facts,  in  the 
South  as  in  the  North,  with  all  the  attention  of  which  I 
am  capable,  I  cannot  say  in  what  measure  the  wish  to  set 
itself  apart  will  subsist  in  the  future,  when  the  South  shall 
have  laid  down  its  arms  ;  when  it  shall  know  that  Europe 
detests  its  flag;  when  it  shall  have  learned  to  comprehend 
that  the  ruin  of  its  cultures,  begun  by  war,  will  be  com 
pleted  by  isolation ;  when  it  shall  have  likewise  learned  to 
comprehend  that  its  slavery  cannot  long  survive  in  any 
case  ;  when  it  shall  have  again  beheld  the  ancient  nation- 


THE    ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  9 

al  colors,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  ;  when  it  shall  have  found 
itself  again  in  contact  with  brothers  in  country,  religion, 
and  blood ;  when  it  shall  have  been  called  to  resume  its 
place  and  part  in  those  institutions  which  are  an  instru 
ment  of  union  because  they  are  an  instrument  of  equality, 
in  those  institutions  which  neither  recognize  nor  create 
any  but  citizens,  and  which  know  no  subjects,  so  that  the 
vanquished  of  yesterday  finds  himself  the  equal  of  his 
victor. 

As  things  stand  now,  to  settle  the  question  of  separa 
tion  as  has  been  done,  needs  either  a  clairvoyance  which 
I  do  not  possess,  a  rare  indifference  with  respect  to  sla 
very,  or  a  hatred  of  America  which  seizes  on  the  first  oc 
casion  to  satisfy  its  longings.  There  are  some  minds,  en 
lightened  in  all  else,  upon  which  America  produces  the 
effect  of  a  nightmare ;  they  ask  to  be  rid  of  it  at  any 
price;  what  wounds  them  in  it  is  not  only  the  real  and 
serious  evil  which  appears  therein  under  various  forms, 
but  also,  and  perhaps  chiefly,  the  good,  the  brilliant,  the 
superior  sides  of  the  United  States — that  energetic  Chris 
tianity,  those  self-sustaining  churches,  that  absence  of  ad 
ministrative  tutelage  and  centralization,  that  individual 
liberty,  those  small  armies  and  small  expenditures  (I 
speak  of  the  American  ideal,  changed  for  the  moment, 
but  which  will,  I  hope,  soon  return)  which  are  the  aston 
ishment  and  sometimes  the  scandal  of  the  Old  World. 

The  fact  is  that  from  the  first  instant  we  decided  in 
stinctively,  and  in  some  sort  authoritatively,  that  the  sep 
aration  was  definitive,  that  the  South  would  attain  its  end, 
and  that  there  must  be  henceforth  two  rival  republics. 
This  decree  rendered  in  Europe,  can  alone  explain  the 
constant  misunderstanding  which  has  existed  during  a 
whole  year  between  us  and  America.  On  taking  it  into 
account,  every  thing  becomes  clear — our  obstinate  refusal 
1* 


10  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

to  believe  in  the  moral  character  of  the  struggle,  our 
haste  to  admit  the  superiority  of  the  South,  our  incredu 
lity  with  respect  to  the  success  or  the  resources  of  the 
North,  our  impatience  at  a  war  which  we  deemed  useless, 
our  injustice  toward  Mr.  Lincoln's  government,  our  dis 
position  to  see  belligerents  where  there  were  only  rebels, 
to  transform  our  position  as  friendly  into  that  of  neutral 
powers,  and  to  seek  occasion  in  an  incident  like  that  of 
the  Trent,  or  in  the  practical  difficulties  of  the  blockade, 
to  end  the  crisis  and  officially  recognize  the  new  Confed 
eracy.  In  the  face  of  such  a  tendency,  (and  on  looking  at 
the  general  outlines  of  our  conduct  in  America  I  do  not 
see  how  it  can  be  contested,)  no  one  can  be  surprised 
either  at  the  claims  or  complaints  with  which  the  diplo 
matic  correspondence  of  the  cabinet  at  Washington  is 
filled,  or  at  what  is  called  the  spleen  of  Mr.  Seward. 
One  might  be  sad  for  less  cause.  To  meet  in  its  path 
a  decision  of  this  kind  at  the  very  moment  when  it 
counted  on  the  warmest  sympathies,  when  it  was  put 
ting  its  hand  to  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  most  glo 
rious  works  that  it  was  possible  for  a  people  to  under 
take,  the  reaction  against  the  democratic  party  and  the 
extension  of  slavery,  to  see  its  friends  transformed  at 
once  into  neutrals,  and  the  rebellion  of  a  day  pass  at  a 
bound  into  the  rank  of  governments  de  facto — we  must 
admit  that  this  was  sufficient  to  sadden  a  nation. 

Europe  commenced  by  discouraging  Mr.  Lincoln  when, 
after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  he  took  the  resolution 
to  suppress  the  rebellion.  One  might  have  said  that  he 
was  almost  wanting  in  his  duty  in  replying  with  bullets 
to  the  bullets  fired  at  the  national  flag. 

Then,  the  war  once  begun,  we  predicted  the  rapid 
and  decisive  success  of  the  insurrection.  The  ministers 


THE    ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  11 

of  Mr.  Buchanan  had  arranged  matters  so  well  that  the 
national  government  had  neither  army  nor  money,  whilst 
the  government  at  Montgomery  lacked  for  nothing  The 
capital  was  exposed,  Baltimore  was  in  insurrection,  Vir 
ginia  and  Maryland  were  ready  to  facilitate  the  progress 
of  the  rebels.  It  was  foretold  that  the  aifair  would  be 
ended  in  a  few  days.  The  master  of  Washington,  Jef 
ferson  David  would  be  in  a  position  to  dictate  terms, 
which  would  be  110  other  than  the  final  separation  of  the 
North  and  South.  Proposed  in  this  wise,  it  would  be 
accepted  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  ratified  by  Europe — happy 
to  recognize  the  new  Confederacy  and  prevent  a  crisis 
direful  to  the  whole  world. 

Nevertheless,  aifairs  changed  face.  In  spite  of  our 
prophecies,  Jefferson  Davis  did  not  take  possession  of  the 
capital.  The  patriotism  of  the  North  silenced  its  divi 
sions  ;  unanimous,  energetic,  it  recoiled  before  no  sacri 
fice  ;  in  a  few  days  it  improvised  its  first  volunteer  regi 
ments  ;  each  family  gave  a  child ;  astonished  Maryland  saw 
herself  invaded  by  the  North  instead  of  the  South ;  Bal 
timore  endeavored  vainly  to  block  up  the  way  ;  the  capi 
tal  was  saved,  and  the  champions  of  slavery  lost  one  of 
their  chances  of  success — that  given  it  by  the  surprise  of 
the  beginning,  the  momentary  superiority  of  the  South, 
and  the  extreme  embarrassment  of  a  government  which 
combined  treasons  in  advance  had  delivered  disarmed  in 
to  the  hands  of  its  enemies.  Since  then,  the  South  has 
lost  other  chances,  but  this  was  assuredly  the  best  of  all. 
It  was  an  hour  for  victory  which  will  never  again  be 
found ;  it  seemed  to  re-appear  after  the  battle  of  Bull 
Run,  but  was  turned  to  no  better  account ;  it  is  improb 
able  that  it  will  ever  return. 

The  question  was  to  maintain  the  confidence  of  the 
rebels.  Daring  no  longer  to  affirm  their  approaching 


12  EUROPE    AND    THE    AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

triumph,  they  confined  themselves  to  affirming  their  in 
vincibility.  They  renounced  the  pretension  of  dictating 
terms  to  the  North,  but  defied  the  North  to  dictate 
terms  to  them.  It  was  to  be,  as  it  were,  an  endless  game 
of  chess,  without  either  winners  or  losers.  Now,  as  such 
games  cannot  be  played  without  injury  to  the  whole 
world,  why  should  not  Europe  determine  to  put  an  end 
to  it,  both  for  its  own  interest  and  for  that  of  America  ? 
Thenceforth,  the  idea  of  European  intervention  gained 
credit,  and  gave  certainty  to  the  ringleaders  at  Mont 
gomery  that,  sooner  or  later,  provided  they  succeeded 
in  maintaining  themselves,  they  would  see  decisive  aid 
come  to  them  from  across  the  seas.  Mediation  was 
talked  of,  recognition  was  talked  of,  indignation  was  ex 
cited  against  Mr.  Lincoln's  government  for  rabidly  at 
tempting  impossibilities. 

How  often  has  it  been  demonstrated  to  us  that  the 
South  could  never  be  conquered,  much  less  subjugated 
and  brought  back  into  the  Union!  The  South  was  unan 
imous,  the  North  was  divided !  The  South  was  ruled  by 
men  of  genius,  the  destinies  of  the  North  were  confided 
to  incapable  hands !  The  slave  labor  was  secure,  riots  of 
workmen  thrown  out  of  employment  were  about  to  break 
out  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia !  The  army  of  Beau- 
regard  was  admirable ;  on  the  other  side  of  the  Potomac, 
there  was  nothing  but  lack  of  discipline,  cowardice,  and 
impotence,  and  enlistments  would  soon  become  impracti 
cable  !  And  the  constant  conclusion  of  this  veracious  in 
formation  was  t  jis :  The  inaction  of  Europe  is  about  to 
cease,  France  and  England  will  accomplish  the  duty  im 
posed  on  them  by  the  necessities  of  their  manufactures 
and  commerce,  and  will  break  the  blockade,  while  await 
ing  the  fitting  time  to  proclaim  recognition. 

I  do  not  accuse  European  governments  of  having  held 


THE   ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  13 

or  authorized  this  language  ;  many  projects  are  doubtless 
attributed  to  them  of  which  they  are  innocent.  I  accuse 
ourselves,  the  people  of  the  Old  World,  who,  for  lack  of 
enthusiasm,  have  failed  to  impose  silence  on  evil  designs. 
In  the  face  of  the  unanimous  manifestation  of  our  sym 
pathies  for  the  North,  the  tendencies  which  I  point  out 
would  not  have  dared  show  themselves,  or  at  all  events 
would  not  have  acquired  the  extended  influence  which 
they  now  possess ;  there  would  not  have  been  so  many 
voices  to  say  to  the  champions  of  slavery :  "  Stand  firm, 
we  are  about  to  come  to  your  aid.  Stand  firm,  give  us 
time  to  triumph  over  a  few  old  prejudices  by  which 
we  are  still  hampered.  Stand  firm,  \\  >  will  elude  the 
blockade.  Stand  firm,  we  will  demand  cotton.  Stand 
firm,  we  will  impose  our  mediation.  Stand  firm,  we  will 
not  let  you  be  crushed;  we  will  not  suffer  you  to  be 
brought  back  into  the  Union ;  if  any  favorable  incident 
offers,  we  will  avail  ourselves  of  it  to  interfere  in  your 
affairs,  to  recognize  your  independence,  and  to  impose 
peace  on  your  enemies." 

This  is  not  the  language  of  a  few  men,  a  few  intriguers 
in  the  pay  of  the  South ;  it  is,  I  confess  with  grief  and  hu 
miliation,  a  sort  of  public  opinion  that  has  taken  form 
among  us,  if  not  in  favor  of  the  South,  (I  do  not  wish  to 
exaggerate,)  at  least  in  favor  of  the  success  of  its  plans. 
There  are  many  honorable  men  who  second  the  move 
ment  without  measuring  its  scope ;  the  question  with 
them  is  only  to  put  an  end  in  one  way  or  another  to  a 
bloody  and  ruinous  war.  Perhaps  they  have  arrived  at 
the  conviction,  which  may  seem  indeed  tenable,  that  the 
separation  is  at  present  a  fact  to  be  accepted  by  wisdom 
and  political  moderation,  after  having  shown  that  it  is  by 
no  means  admitted  as  a  right.  They  do  not  see  that  such 
questions  should  be  resolved  in  America  and  nowhere 


14  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

else ;  that  to  impose  the  separation  in  the  name  of  Europe 
is  to  sanction  it  on  the  score  of  right,  to  cast  aside  princi 
ples,  to  say  to  interests,  "  Reign  alone  !  "  This  rebellion 
has  not  even  the  merit  of  being  a  successful  one,  since  it 
has  won  no  decisive  victory,  and  the  real  struggle  has 
scarcely  commenced.  This  rebellion  has  no  other  claim 
to  favor,  than  the  audacity  with  which,  in  the  midst  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  it  has  inscribed  the  motto  of  sla 
very  upon  its  banner.  This  rebellion  has  boasted  that  it 
would  force  us  to  an  adjustment,  and  compel  us,  willing 
or  unwilling,  to  range  ourselves  on  the  side  of  the  cotton 
merchants  and  slave  dealers.  Now,  what  it  proposed,  it 
executes,  and  what  it  hoped  for,  it  obtains.  Docile  Europe 
comes  to  its  aid  at  the  proper  time ;  we  demonstrate  to 
ourselves  that  it  is  right,  and  not  content  with  believing 
so  ourselves,  find  it  quite  natural  to  ask  Mr.  Lincoln  to 
think  so  likewise.  Is  not  this,  step  by  step,  what  is  pass 
ing  before  our  eyes  ? 

I  hope  that  we  shall  not  continue  to  the  end.  I  hope 
this  above  all,  let  me  repeat  again,  since  the  affair  of  the 
Trent,  which,  in  bringing  us  to  the  brink  of  the  abyss, 
forced  us  to  measure  its  depth.  On  seeing  herself  so  near 
to  drawing  the  sword  for  slavery,  Europe  could  not  help 
shrinking  b-ack  in  consternation.  She  comprehended  that 
terrible  wars  might  lurk  behind  this  great  love  of  peace, 
and  that,  in  attempting  to  put  an  end  to  the  quarrels 
of  the  United  States,  we  run  the  risk  of  kindling  in  the 
present,  or  laying  up  for  the  future,  unnatural  quarrels  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  ourselves.  Slumbering  sym 
pathies  began  finally  to  awaken,  Christians  and  Abolition 
ists  saw  the  path  into  which  they  were  to  be  forced  with 
out  their  knowledge.  It  may  be,  therefore,  that  after 
having  had  victory  almost  within  reach  on  the  day  of 
the  arrest  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  the  partisans  of  South- 


THE    ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  15 

ern  recognition  will  henceforth  find  themselves  thrown  far 
back  from  the  end  which  they  are  seeking  to  attain. 

Let  us  beware,  notwithstanding  ;  they  still  have  great 
influence,  of  which  I  ask  no  other  proof  than  the  aston 
ishment,  I  might  say  scandal,  excited  among  us,  on  hear 
ing  the  Southerners  called  rebels.  We,  Frenchmen  and 
Englishmen,  who  have  never  hesitated  to  qualify  an  insur 
rection  in  Ireland  or  La  Vendee,  much  more  in  Algeria 
or  India,  as  a  rebellion,  suddenly  change  our  principles 
when  Americans  are  in  question. 

We  have  invented  for  their  use  a  complete  political 
theory,  the  first  article  of  which  is  liberty  of  dismember 
ment.  At  the  very  moment  when  this  friendly  people,  in 
the  plenitude  of  its  right,  declared  that  it  would  admit 
of  no  separation,  we  almost  decided  that  it  was  at  once 
legitimate  in  itself,  necessary  to  Europe,  and  beyond  the 
possibility  of  suppression.  To  foresee  events,  is  in  part  to 
create  them ;  and  nothing  has  better  aided  the  South,  than 
the  prediction  of  its  final  triumph. 

In  other  terms,  we  have  until  recently  conceded  every 
thing  to  the  South — fact  and  right.  This  is  what  we 
have  called  taking  sides  with  no  one !  If  I  belonged  to 
the  South,  I  should  ask  nothing  more,  well  knowing  re 
cognition  and  intervention  to  be  the  inevitable  conclusion 
of  these  premises,  which  we  must  necessarily  soon  reach, 
if  we  go  on  in  the  same  way.  Who  would  have  believed, 
on  the  day  when  the  banner  of  Charleston  was  unfurled 
for  slavery,  and  when  the  indignation  of  the  Old  World 
burst  forth  on  every  side — who  would  have  said,  that  at 
the  end  of  a  few  months  we  would  come  to  admit  all  the 
theses  of  the  South,  without  excepting  a  single  one — the 
legality  of  its  secession,  its  immediate  transformation  from 
a  rebel  into  a  belligerent,  our  moral  neutrality  between 
the  United  States  and  the  insurgents,  the  forgetfulness 


16  EUROPE    AND    THE    AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

of  the  infamous  cause  defended  by  the  latter,  the  convic 
tion  of  their  final  success,  the  condemnation  of  the  repres 
sive  measures  directed  against  them,  beginning  with  the 
blockade  intended  for  their  reduction  ?  From  the  moment 
that  we  began  to  wish  for  the  separation,  we  aided  it — that  is 
certain.  Shall  our  assistance  become  effective  and  direct  ? 
Shall  we  leap  over  the  interval  which  still  separates  us 
from  official  recognition  and  intervention  ?  This  depends 
on  the  movement  of  public  opinion  which  the  affair  of  the 
Trent  has  just  called  forth.  If  it  acquire  the  proportions 
of  a  true  moral  awakening,  if  the  opposition  which  Lord 
Palmerston  and  the  Morning  Post  have  just  encountered 
in  their  path  spread  more  and  more,  if  the  party  in  sym 
pathy  with  the  United  States  and  liberty  complete  its 
uprising,  the  old  traditions  of  hatred  inherited  from  George 
III.  and  Chatham,  must  resign  themselves  to  return  to 
the  shades. 

However  this  may  be,  it  is  evident  that  the  real  centre 
of  the  American  question  is  to  be  found  now  in  Europe  : 
it  is  at  Paris  and  London,  not  at  Washington  and  Rich 
mond,  that  the  essential  resolutions  are  taken  on  which  de 
pend  the  future  of  the  United  States.  This  is  a  serious 
reason  that  we  should  watch  over  ourselves,  for  our 
responsibility  here  is  immense.  I  shudder  when  I  think 
with  what  lightness  we  amuse  ourselves  by  carving  up 
America.  There  will  be  two  Confederacies,  or  rather 
three— that  of  the  North,  the  South,  and  the  West ! 
Such  are  the  speeches  that  we  carelessly  throw  out !  How 
do  we  know  that  our  witticisms  may  not  become  weapons 
in  the  hands  of  the  champions  of  slavery — in  the  hands  of 
the  enemies  of  all  the  causes  that  we  hold  most  dear ! 

It  will  be  found  at  a  given  time  that,  to  discourage 
good  and  encourage  evil,  a  great  political  crime  will  be 
attempted  ;  the  idea  of  an  impious  war  with  the  United 


THE    ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  17 

States,  a  war  made  to  add  to  their  generous  sufferings,  a 
war  in  which  Europe  risks  appearing  supported  by  the 
friends  of  slavery,  will  gain  acceptance.  The  first  ener 
getic  act  of  the  Old  World,  its  first  message  to  the  New, 
will  be  an  ultimatum.  Such  is  the  support  which  we 
will  lend  it  at  the  darkest,  the  most  glorious  hour  of  its 
history,  and  Europe  will  be  the  sender  of  this  message. 

Europe.  My  readers  will  understand  why  I  have 
adopted  this  collective  term.  There  has  been  a  European 
policy  in  opposition  to  that  of  America.  Despite  the  dif 
ferences  which  have  sometimes  succeeded  in  gaining 
ground  between  our  policy,  for  instance,  and  that  of 
England,  unity  has  always  triumphed,  and  the  two  gov 
ernments  have  continued  to  go  on  together.  As  to  the 
other  powers,  if  we  except  Russia,  which  has  adopted  an 
independent  and  sympathetic  course  toward  the  United 
States,  they  have  hitherto  appeared  to  consider  England 
and  France  as  their  natural  representatives  in  this  crisis. 
England,  upon  the  whole,  has  had  the  chief  part  and  the 
chief  responsibility ;  through  the  ties  of  every  kind  which 
unite  her  to  America,  through  the  importance  of  her  navy, 
through  her  enormous  consumption  of  American  cotton, 
and  still  more,  perhaps,  through  the  special  competency 
conferred  upon  her  by  the  services  which  she  has  rendered 
to  the  emancipation  of  the  negroes,  she  was  evidently 
more  deeply  interested  and  implicated  in  the  conflict  of  the 
North  and  South  than  any  other  nation.  Her  resolutions 
should  have  and  have  had  a  preponderating  influence. 
It  will  be  proper,  consequently,  to  examine  them  more 
closely,  and  to  this  duty  I  devote  the  second  part  of  my 
work. 

Meanwhile,  I  take  a  more  general  standpoint,  which 
is  also  true.  In  speaking  of  Europe,  without  particular- 


18  EUROPE    AND   THE    AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

izing  France  and  England,  I  gain  the  advantage  of  ward 
ing  off  many  complicated  and  actually  insoluble  questions. 
I  need  no  longer  ask  whether  it  has  been  England  or 
France  that  has  sought  to  ensure  the  triumph  of  a  system 
having  the  recognition  of  the  South  for  its  end,  and  the 
inefficiency  of  the  blockade  for  its  means.  We  accuse  the 
English,  the  English  accuse  us  in  turn.  In  default  of  of 
ficial  documents,  it  is  impossible  to  decide  with  certainty 
which  is  right.  I  prefer  to  believe,  till  proofs  are  furnish 
ed  to  the  contrary,  that  neither  is  right.  It  seems  to  me 
more  probable  that  public  opinion  has  had  a  great  share 
in  the  evil  with  which  governments  are  unjustly  charged. 
The  real  criminals,  once  again,  are  ourselves,  the  whole 
world,  European  ideas,  which,  instead  of  openly  taking  the 
part  of  the  North,  have  let  themselves  be  persuaded  to 
adopt  the  theories  of  Charleston,  and  to  proclaim  the  se 
cession  of  the  Slave  States  as  lawful,  beneficial,  and  final. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHAT   OUGHT    TO    HAVE    BEEN    THE   ATTITUDE   OF  EUKOPE. 

"  IT  is  well  to  distrust  first  impulses."  This  motto  of 
Prince  Talleyrand  seems  to  have  been  our  watchword 
during  the  past  year.  The  first  impulse  of  Europe  was 
warmly  in  favor  of  the  North ;  its  right,  at  least,  was 
doubted  by  no  one.  We  could  not  comprehend  the  new 
greatness  which  was  promised  it,  but  thought  rather  of 
the  sufferings  of  the  crisis  in  which  the  uprising  must 
end;  but  that  the  cause  of  the  North  was  just,  that  the 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  great  national  act,  that  the 
human  conscience  was  relieved  of  a  weight  that  had  op 
pressed  it,  that  iniquity  was  struck  with  death,  we  did 
not  then  dream  of  contesting.  Since  that  time,  we  have 
distrusted  ourselves  ;  able  men  have  taken  it  upon  them 
selves  to  instruct  us  ;  our  convictions  have  become  modi 
fied  by  degrees,  and  we  have  repented  of  our  first  inno- 
nence. 

I  have  retained  my  first  impressions,  I  admit,  during 
the  past  year.  When  efforts  have  been  made  to  move 
my  feelings  toward  the  South,  the  so-called  weak  engaged 
in  a  struggle  with  the  strong,  I  have  remembered  other 
weaker  beings,  its  slaves,  and  my  compassion  has  refused 


20  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

to  change  place.  It  has  seemed  to  me  that  a  free  country, 
which,  by  the  mere  energy  of  its  institutions,  opposes  in 
superable  barriers  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  boldly 
undertakes  the  solution  of  a  problem  before  which  so 
many  others  have  recoiled,  is  a  country  deserving  some 
esteem  and  respect.  These  men  of  the  dollar  who  un 
hesitatingly  provoke  a  foretold  and  certain  crisis  which 
may  swallow  up  their  fortunes,  who  accept  without  a 
murmur  the  immediate  loss  of  debts  to  the  value  of  a 
million  of  dollars  in  the  South — these  men,  these  mer 
chants  if  you  will,  do  not  appear  to  me  altogether  desti 
tute  of  nobility. 

Let  us  now  see,  the  study  is  worth  the  pains,  whether 
the  frank  policy  dictated  by  our  first  impulse  would  not 
have  been  as  good  as  the  would-be  able  policy  of  which 
the  world  is  beginning  to  reap  the  fruits. 

Europe  would  have  simply  manifested  its  sympathies. 
The  American  Union,  a  friendly  power,  would  have  be 
come  still  more  friendly  at  the  instant  of  its  courageous 
reaction  against  the  crime  which  has  sullied  its  history 
and  debased  its  institutions.  Far  from  seeking  a  quarrel 
with  it  or  treating  it  with  coldness,  we  would  have  en 
couraged  it  by  all  means.  We  would  not  have  invented 
in  behalf  of  the  champions  of  slavery,  a  theory  which  in 
some  sort  from  the  beginning  elevated  the  rebels  to  the 
character  of  belligerents.  Without  interfering  effectively 
in  the  struggle,  we  would  not  have  gone  out  of  our  way 
to  seek  for  ourselves  the  false,  strange,  and  complicated 
position  of  neutrals  when  we  had  naturally  that  of  allies. 
As  to  the  questions  which  might  present  themselves  in 
the  future,  supposing  that,  by  a  series  of  decisive  victories, 
the  South  should  succeed  in  conquering  a  place  among 
the  governments  de  facto,  we  should  have  experienced 


WHAT   OUGHT   TO    HAVE   BEEX   HER   ATTITUDE.  21 

no  need  of  providing  for  such  an  hypothesis  in  advance, 
but  would  have  contented  ourselves  with  declaring  that  a 
republic  officially  founded  on  "  the  corner-stone  of  slavery," 
was  sure  at  all  events  of  obtaining  no  favor. 

How  would  Europe  have  offended  against  internation 
al  laws  if  her  governments  had  expressed  themselves  in 
the  following  manner  ? 

— "  We  know  no  president  but  the  one  regularly  elect 
ed.  There  is  to  us  but  a  single  rightful  government  in 
America,  that  which  has  its  seat  at  Washington.  As  to 
the  South,  we  await  the  final  issue  of  its  armed  struggle, 
and  the  consolidation  of  its  government  de  facto." 

Certainly,  by  holding  such  language,  the  insurrection 
would  have  been  weakened  and  many  misfortunes  pre 
vented,  without  in  any  wise  lessening  the  significance  of 
the  internal  impulse  of  the  United  States.  To  meet  im 
portant  questions  face  to  face  is  at  once  loyal,  sympathetic, 
and  generous,  and  best  fitted  to  resolve  them.  What 
would  Jefferson  Davis  and  his  friends  have  done,  had 
they  known,  known  beyond  the  possibility  of  mistake, 
that  they  could  not  count  on  Europe  ?  Would  they  not 
have  renounced  their  designs  ?  Would  they  have  long  pur 
sued  them  ?  No  war  at  all,  or  a  very  short  one — such  is 
the  result  that  would  have  been  at  once  obtained  by  sim 
ply  abstaining  from  granting  the  South  an  exceptional  fa 
vor  which  seemed  to  promise  it  many  others. 

At  the  same  time,  the  North  would  have  been  strength 
ened  in  the  noble  cause  which  it  had  just  entered  ;  a  cur 
rent  of  warm  sympathy  would  have  been  established  be 
tween  it  and  us ;  the  combat  against  slavery  would  have 
preserved  the  character  of  a  pacific  and  Christian  strug 
gle,  instead  of  assuming  perhaps  in  the  end,  that  of  a 
warlike  act  and  violent  proceeding;  slowly,  doubtless, 
but  surely,  the  progress  marked  by  the  election  of  Mr. 


22  EUROPE   AND    THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

Lincoln  would  have  been  completed  by  legal  ways :  to 
day,  the  non-extension  of  slavery ;  to-morrow,  its  aboli 
tion,  with  indemnity,  in  those  States  best  prepared  for 
freedom ;  by-and-by,  complete  measures,  rendered  con 
stitutionally  possible  by  the  increasing  majority  of  the  ad 
versaries  of  the  "  institution." 

Those  who  have  taken  into  account  the  nameless  ca 
lamities  which  negro  insurrections  may  comprise,  will  not 
hesitate  to  prefer  the  less  rapid  method  which  would  have 
prevailed,  according  to  all  appearances,  if  Europe  had 
not  encouraged  the  South.  There  would  have  been  ca 
lamities  of  another  kind,  proposed  compoundings,  at 
tempts  at  compromise ;  but  the  power  of  principles  is 
great,  and  the  impulse  which  produced  the  election  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  is  not  of  those  that  move  backward.  The 
death  of  slavery  is  written  therein  in  shining  characters 
which  deceive  no  one,  either  in  the  South  or  the  North, 
America  or  Europe.  Suppose  that  Mr.  Lincoln  had  shown 
himself  weak,  and  that  the  compromises  had  been  shame 
ful,  it  is  none  the  less  certain,  that,  before  the  end  of  his 
four  years  of  administration,  the  question  would  have 
made  decisive  progress.  No  more  territories  abandoned 
to  slavery,  no  more  conquests  for  slavery,  no  more  new 
States  affiliated  with  the  party  of  slavery ;  by  the  force 
of  events,  by  the  action  of  public  opinion,  the  good 
cause  would  have  marched  onward,  sweeping  before  it 
ah1  the  impotent  barriers  which  had  been  placed  in  its 
path. 

Instead  of  this,  we  have  had  a  civil  war  which  will  be 
come  a  war  of  emancipation,  (there  are  moments  when 
certain  causes  rule  so  absolutely  that  every  thing  serves 
them,  war  as  well  as  peace,  defeats  as  well  as  victories, 
obstacles  as  well  as  means,)  a  civil  war  which  is  in  danger 
of  precipitating  the  progress  of  the  reformatory  move- 


WHAT   OUGHT   TO   HAVE   BEEN   HER   ATTITUDE.          23 

ment  beyond  measure,  of  affranchising  more  speedily  and 
more  harmfully  those  slaves  whose  definitive  affranchise 
ment  was  no  longer  in  question,  This  civil  war,  in  being 
prolonged,  runs  the  risk  of  ruining  both  South  and  North, 
and  Europe  into  the  bargain ;  perhaps  it  will  substitute 
servile  insurrection  for  the  transformation  prudently 
effected  by  legislative  means ;  perhaps  it  will  substitute 
the  remediless  destruction  of  the  cotton  culture  for  the 
pacific  introduction  of  free  labor.  In  any  case,  when 
ended,  it  will  leave  behind  it  a  sad  inheritance  of  bitter 
and  hostile  memories,  arising  between  America  and  Eu 
rope,  and  unceasingly  threatening  to  engender  foreign 
wars  in  the  sequel  of  intestinal  conflicts.  May  God  pre 
serve  us  from  such  a  misfortune  !  The  shudder  which 
ran  through  the  whole  world,  but  the  other  day,  when  a 
messenger  of  Queen  Victoria  crossed  the  ocean  bearing  a 
despatch  for  Lord  Lyons,  will  not  soon  be  forgotten.  We 
had  taken  the  wrong  road  ;  will  we  have  energy  enough 
now  to  adopt  a  better  course  ?  Will  we  form  a  public 
opinion  in  Europe  capable  of  enforcing  its  commands  ? 
The  answer  to  this  question  does  not  alone  include  the 
future  of  America,  it  also  contains  our  own ;  according 
as  we  shall  have  aided  or  disserved  the  great"  American 
people  in  the  dark  hour  of  its  distress,  we  shall  have  in  it 
a  friend  or  an  adversary  when  it  shall  have  accomplished, 
either  with  us  or  despite  us,  the  work  of  its  uprising. 

It  is  now,  it  is  during  this  decisive  year,  which  will 
never  more  return,  that  it  is  necessary  to  give  the  United 
States  pledges  of  our  affection  for  them,  and  our  warm 
adhesion  to  the  cause  which  they  defend.  There  are 
services  rendered  at  certain  moments  which  are  never 
effaced  from  the  memory  of  nations  ;  what  France  did 
for  the  foundation  of  the  United  States  in  the  eighteenth 

O 

century,  Europe  may  do,  for  their  second  foundation,  in 


24  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

the  nineteenth.  She  may  cast  into  the  soil  of  both  worlds 
imperishable  seeds  of  peace  and  amity. 

How  many  mistakes  would  have  been  spared  us  if  we 
had  sooner  adopted  this  resolution  !  It  will  suffice  for 
me  to  recall  a  single  one.  "When  Mr.  Lincoln  offered  to 
sign  the  great  international  agreement  of  1848,  and  con 
sequently  to  proclaim  with  us  and  like  us  those  laws  for 
the  protection  of  the  rights  of  neutrals,  of  the  importance 
of  which  we  have  been  just  reminded  by  the  Trent  affair, 
we  imposed  one  condition  on  him  which  very  rightly 
changed  his  determination.  And  why  did  we  do  this  ? 
Because  we  had  invented  the  position  of  belligerents  for 
the  benefit  of  the  South,  because  we  ourselves  had  as 
sumed  the  position  of  neutrals,  officially  proclaimed  as 
such,  because  we  had  departed  from  truth  and  simplicity, 
because  we  found  ourselves  thenceforth  charged  with 
watching  over  the  threatened  legitimacy  of  the  pri 
vateers  of  Jefferson  Davis.  If  we  had  remained  in  our 
natural  position,  if,  in  conformity  with  our  sympathies 
and  the  right  of  nations,  we  had  seen  in  America  only  a 
friendly  nation  struggling  with  rebels,  we  would  not  have 
had  in  some  sort  to  refuse  its  signature.  Our  ports  would 
have  been  closed  of  course  to  the  armed  vessels  of  the 
South ;  it  does  not  seem  to  me  that  this  would  have  sub 
jected  us  to  great  inconvenience.  And  as  to  the  Southern 
privateers,  supposing  them  to  have  been  also  called  in  ques 
tion,  nothing  would  have  prevented  us  from  announcing 
that,  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  we  had  decided  not  to 
treat  them  as  pirates.  The  government  at  Washington 
would  have  comprehended — I  say  more,  imitated  us. 

To  sum  up  the  whole,  our  counsels  would  have  had 
more  weight  if  we  had  remained  friendly  powers,  having 
no  relations  (save  the  local  necessity  of  consulships)  with 
any  except  the  single  government  whose  ministers  were 


WHAT    OUGHT   TO    HAVE    BEEN    HER   ATTITUDE.  25 

regularly  accredited  to  us.  As  friendly  allies,  we  would 
have  obtained  a  hearing.  I  even  affirm  that,  in  case  it 
might  be  some  day  advisable  for  the  American  Govern 
ment  to  resign  itself  to  the  separation  of  a  few  States,  the 
influence  of  a  friendly  Europe  would  give  more  chances 
for  the  acceptance  of  such  a  sacrifice  than  all  the  media 
tion  offered  by  our  official  neutrality. 
2 


CHAPTER    III. 

HOW  TO  EXPLAIN  THE  ATTITUDE   OF  EUROPE. 

IT  is  not  enough  to  describe  and  deplore  our  attitude ; 
the  most  important  thing  of  all  is  to  explain  it.  By  going 
back  to  causes,  we  may  chance  to  fall  in  with  remedies. 
Whence  comes  the  fact,  so  strange  at  first  sight,  that,  so 
long  as  the  United  States  were  governed  by  slavery  and 
for  slavery,  they  were  let  alone ;  as  soon  as  they  begun 
to  react  against  slavery,  and  against  the  whole  system  of 
violence,  conquests,  and  attempts  on  humanity  or  the 
rights  of  nations  therein  involved,  the  hitherto  unknown 
theory  of  belligerent  insurgents  was  forged  for  their 
use? 

The  explanation  is  not  difficult.  From  the  first  mo 
ment,  Europe  arrogated  to  herself  a  sort  of  benevolent 
patronage  over  divided  America ;  she  saw  in  it  minors, 
infants  I  should  say,  whom  it  was  the  duty  of  reasonable 
men  to  direct.  Toward  this  republic,  toward  this  im 
perilled  confederacy,  we  did  not  feel  ourselves  bound  to 
obey  the  laws  applicable  between  States  on  a  footing  of 
equality.  We  never  once  thought  of  saying,  "  Whatever 
may  be  our  opinion  of  the  future  chances  of  the  rebellion, 


HOW   TO   EXPLAIN   THE   ATTITUDE   OF   EUROPE.  27 

it  belongs  to  the  American  Government  alone  to  deter 
mine  the  course  of  conduct  which  it  deems  proper  to  fol 
low  ;  if  it  be  wrong  in  opposing  the  separation,  this  con 
cerns  only  itself,  and  we  know  of  no  other  American 
Government."  Far  from  this,  we  have  taken  it  for  grant 
ed,  without  premeditation,  and  as  if  by  instinct,  under  the 
impulse,  doubtless,  of  the  interest  that  we  bear  America, 
as  well  as  of  the  European  interests  involved  in  it,  that 
this  affair  is  our  own,  and  that  we  have  the  right  to  inter 
fere  in  it. 

This  principle  once  admitted,  (and  every  one  remem 
bers  that  if  it  were  not  so  in  formal  terms,  its  influence 
made  itself  no  less  promptly  felt  among  us,)  the  conse 
quences  could  not  be  long  in  coming.  An  immense 
country  demanded  separation ;  the  republic  thus  broken 
was  nothing  but  a  simple  confederacy,  in  which  the  sover 
eignty  of  the  individual  States  seemed  at  first  sight  to 
authorize  the  pretensions  of  the  secessionists ;  the  North 
was  disunited,  disarmed,  unmilitary,  and  appeared  incapa 
ble  of  reducing  the  rebellion  ;  in  a  prolonged  struggle, 
the  prosperity  of  America  might  perish,  and  that  of 
Europe  also  be  exposed  to  serious  dangers.  Why  then 
should  not  the  patronage  of  the  Old  World  come  to  aid 
the  inexperience  of  the  New  ?  Why  not  indicate  by  a 
decisive  act  that  the  rupture  was  held  to  be  final  ? 

This  established,  the  conduct  of  Europe  is  no  longer 
obscure.  The  struggle  had  scarcely  commenced  when  we 
proclaimed,  by  an  act  the  signification  of  which  deceived 
no  one,  the  impotence  of  the  Government  at  Washing 
ton — it  could  not  reduce  the  South,  the  South  was  certain 
to  make  itself  recognized  by-and-by  ;  in  the  mean  time 
we  treated  the  latter  almost  as  a  government  de  facto, 
and  conferred  upon  it  the  quality  of  belligerent.  Be 
tween  belligerents,  England  declared  herself  neutral,  then 


28  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

awaited  events.  To  see  the  eagerness  with  which  the 
incident  of  the  Trent  was  at  first  seized  upon  by  England, 
justified  us  in  believing  that  Lord  Palmerston  saw  in 
it,  beyond  the  violation  of  neutral  rights,  the  pretext  for 
an  American  intervention.  To  recognize  the  South,  to 
sanction  the  definitive  separation,  to  reestablish  peace, 
and  thus  to  transact  the  business  of  the  whole  world,  by 
force  of  arms,  if  need  were — such  was  the  programme. 

And  a  proof  in  the  minds  of  many  that  our  mediation 
is  only  postponed,  is,  that  the  arrangement  of  the  inci 
dent  of  the  Trent  was  near  ending  in  nothing.  Messrs. 
Mason  and  Slidell  had  not  yet  reembarked  when  new 
difficulties  came  under  discussion.  Europe  censured  the 
measure  taken  to  close  the  harbor  of  Charleston  ;  Europe 
was  disposed  to  contest  the  efficiency  of  the  blockade. 
In  other  words,  Europe,  which  had  decided  for  the  good 
of  young  America  that  it  should  not  be  suffered  to  carry 
the  folly  too  far  which  it  had  taken  into  its  head,  seemed 
determined  to  arrive  sooner  or  later  to  its  end,  the  recog 
nition  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

I  like  to  look  at  things  as  they  are.  There  are  fewer 
accidents  in  the  life  of  peoples  and  the  relations  of  States 
than  is  supposed  ;  almost  always,  on  going  back  a  little 
way,  we  meet  a  directing  principle  which  gives  the  key 
to  all  the  rest.  It  is  necessary  to  ascend  from  secondary 
to  ruling  questions  ;  thus  only  will  light  break  forth. 

If  Europe  had  not  believed  herself  called  to  lord  over 
America,  she  would  have  remained  faithful  to  her  natural 
role.  Whatever  might  have  been  her  theoretical  previ 
sions  concerning  the  issue  of  the  crisis,  she  would  have 
known  no  government  but  that  of  the  United  States. 
She  would  have  seen  nothing  in  this  civil  war  but  a  strug 
gle  between  the  regular  government  and  rebels,  a  struggle 
between  the  adversaries  and  champions  of  the  extension 


HOW    TO    EXPLAIN   THE    ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  29 

of  slavery.  The  sympathies  of  European  opinion  would 
have  been  then  displayed  in  their  full  truth,  instead  of 
being  hampered  and  perverted,  as  they  have  not  ceased 
to  be  during  the  past  year.  Had  it  not  been  for  this 
gross  falsehood  of  a  question  decided  in  advance,  we 
should  have  held  our  true  convictions,  and  not  those  im 
personal  and  involuntary  ones  which  are  accepted  from 
the  hand  of  necessity.  We  should  have  wished  success 
with  all  our  hearts  to  the  great  people  of  the  United 
States,  which  is  destined  to  so  noble  a  mission  on  earth. 
We  should  have  execrated  as  it  deserves  this  rebellion, 
unique  in  history,  which  seems  a  challenge  hurled  at  the 
gospel  and  civilization.  In  our  journals,  our  books,  our 
meetings,  at  the  tribunals  of  our  deliberative  assemblies, 
we  would  have  made  the  avowed  champions  of  slavery 
understand  clearly  the  kind  of  welcome  that  awaited 
them  among  us.  We  would  not  have  distrusted  our  best 
sentiments,  we  would  not  have  taken  counsel  of  prudence, 
policy,  the  foresight  of  things  which  might  or  might  not 
happen ;  we  would  have  admitted  at  the  outset  that 
justice  is  a  power,  and  that  by  this  sign  do  men  conquer. 
At  the  sight  of  the  ringleaders  of  the  South,  who,  for  the 
sole  reason  that  they  have  been  defeated  in  an  election, 
call  their  fellow-citizens  to  arms,  fire  on  the  flag  of  their 
country,  attack  the  free  government  to  which  they  had 
sworn  allegiance,  and  hasten  to  supplicate  in  Europe  as 
sistance  from  foreign  powers,  we  would  not  have  re 
strained  our  repugnance,  but  would  have  told  them  what 
we  thought  of  the  twofold  crime — the  attempt  to  destroy 
the  United  States,  and  to  found  a  new  State  on  the 
corner-stone  of  slavery.  The  reprobation  of  Europe,  thus 
signified  to  the  Southerners,  might  have  facilitated  the 
accomplishment  of  what  we  have  delighted  in  calling  im 
possible,  and  have  caused  the  monstrous  edifice,  whose 


30  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

completion  we  have  so  coldly  demonstrated  as  certain,  to 
totter  from  the  very  first  day  upon  its  base.  To  deny 
things  is  sometimes  to  prevent  them ;  to  affirm  them,  is 
sometimes  to  render  them  sure. 

Shrewd  men  find  no  better  way  to  encourage  evil  than 
by  prophesying  its  success  and  thus  summoning  upon  earth 
by  subtlety  of  reasoning,  calamities  which  frankness  of 
moral  sentiment  would  have  conjured  down.  But  the 
time  soon  comes  when  moral  sentiment,  baffled  for  an 
instant,  regains  its  sway.  It  becomes  necessary  then  to 
act  in  accordance  with  it,  and  to  prove  that,  by  support 
ing  the  evil  cause,  the  triumph  of  the  good  one  has  been 
but  the  better  ensured.  Such  is  the  manoeuvre  which 
has  been  attempted  among  us  during  two  or  three  months 
past.  Not  only  is  it  more  than  ever  affirmed  that  slavery 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  insurrection  of  the  South,  (we 
will  presently  seethe  value  of  this  incomparable  paradox,) 
but  it  is  said  that  the  triumph  of  the  North  would 
strengthen  slavery,  and  that  the  South,  on  obtaining  the 
recognition  of  Europe,  would  pledge  itself  to  emancipa 
tion. 

What  are  we  to  think  of  this  double  assertion  ? 

There  was  a  moment,  as  I  have  always  admitted,  when 
the  reentrance  of  the  South  into  the  Union  might  have 
been  purchased  by  lamentable  concessions.  In  the  be 
ginning  of  the  war,  and  even  for  sometime  after,  the  fears 
which  were  expressed  were  not  destitute  of  foundation. 
Doubtless,  such  compromises  would  not  have  ensured 
long  life  to  the  patriarchal  institution  which  had  received 
its  death-blow  in  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Neverthe 
less,  there  would  have  been  fearful  struggles,  the  public 
conscience  would  have  had  to  suffer  anew,  our  brows 
would  have  blushed  at  the  news  of  numerous  acts  de 
signed  to  conciliate  the  South,  even  though  vanquished, 


HOW   TO   EXPLAIN   THE   ATTITUDE   OF   EUROPE.  31 

and  to  heap  up  constitutional  guarantees  about  an  expir 
ing  iniquity. 

The  error  here  does  not  consist  in  supposing  that  such 
a  policy  might  have  been  possible,  but  that  it  may  still 
be  so.  Whoever  has  closely  studied  the  Northern  States, 
knows  that  an  important  change  has  been  wrought  there 
by  the  very  fact  of  the  prolongation  and  aggravation  of 
the  civil  war.  By  degrees,  a  true  and  simple  idea  has 
broken  loose  from  the  clouds  of  prejudice  by  which  it 
had  been  surrounded — the  great  enemy  is  slavery  ;  the 
great  conspirator  is  slavery  ;  the  great  rebel  is  slavery ; 
the  great  enemy  of  peace  and  Union  is  slavery !  Since 
the  entire  North  has  comprehended  this,  it  has  taken 
an  immovable  resolution  not  to  end  the  war  without 
also  ending  the  cause  of  the  war.  The  conviction  on  this 
point  has  become  so  general,  that  at  the  present  time, 
neither  a  President  nor  Secretary  of  State  could  be 
found,  willing  to  take  it  upon  himself  to  propose,  what 
ever  might  be  its  immediate  advantages,  a  measure  de 
signed  to  perpetuate  slavery.  Supposing,  contrary  to 
all  appearances,  such  a  measure  to  be  proposed  and  pass 
ed  by  Congress,  it  would  encounter  so  violent  an  opposi 
tion  in  the  nation,  and  even  the  army  would  oppose  it  so 
strongly,  that  there  would  be  no  means  of  securing  its 
execution ;  then,  at  the  next  presidential  elections,  the 
measure  and  its  authors  would  be  voted  down  by  a  burst 
of  wrath  which  would  sweep  away  all  compromises,  and 
bow  beneath  its  violence  all  servile  institutions  from  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac  to  the  distant  shores  of  Texas. 

It  is  a  marvellous  fact,  and  one  which,  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  I  admit  without  regret,  that,  in  case  the  South 
should  return  to  the  Union  before  the  Federal  army  shall 
have  broken  down  all  its  opposition  and  passed  in  triumph 
through  its  entire  territory,  slavery  will  subsist  there  in 


32  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CEISIS. 

the  position  of  an  accursed  institution,  condemned  to 
perish,  abolished  definitively  in  principle,  but  tolerated 
for  a  given  time  in  order  to  smooth  the  way  of  transition 
and  prepare  for  a  peaceful  emancipation.  Such  a  slavery 
would  possess  neither  influence  nor  future  ;  hemmed  in 
on  all  sides  by  victorious  liberty,  despoiled  of  the  preju 
dices  and  prestige  which  lately  surrounded  it,  having 
no  longer  power  either  to  demand  fugitive  slaves  or  to 
acquire  new  territory,  it  would  tranquilly  but  surely 
vanish. 

Such  an  abolition,  I  admit,  seems  to  me  preferable  to 
that  wrought  by  a  servile  war.  It  is  no  less  sure,  and  is 
better  for  the  blacks  as  well  as  the  whites. 

As  to  the  abolition  which  is  promised  us  on  condition 
of  Southern  recognition,  I  have  this  to  say  : 

I  am  glad,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  awakening  of 
public  opinion  caused  by  the  affair  of  the  Trent,  has 
brought  the  advocates  of  the  South  to  the  necessity  of 
thus  amending  their  programme.  Hitherto,  they  had 
not  taken  this  trouble,  but  had  contented  themselves  with 
declaring  in  general  terms  that  separation  would  result 
more  favorably  than  union  to  that  great  humanitarian 
cause,  the  triumph  of  which,  as  all  knew,  was  ardently 
desired  by  the  whole  world.  Now,  they  have  taken  a 
great  step  in  advance ;  they  have  the  semblance  of  an 
nouncing  in  the  name  of  Jefferson  Davis  that  he  is  ready 
to  accord  a  promise  of  affranchisement  in  exchange  for 
recognition. 

Jefferson  Davis,  I  am  convinced,  will  never  haggle 
for  the  conditions  of  recognition.  To  be  recognized  is 
the  essential  point.  After  that,  we  will  see. 

Moreover,  is  it  not  certain  that  henceforth  every  thing, 
without  exception,  must  end  in  abolition?  Has  any  man 
of  sense  doubted  it  since  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  ? 


HOW    TO    EXPLAIN   THE    ATTITUDE    OF   EUROPE. 

Mr.  Davis  has  intellect  enough  to  comprehend  with  us 
what  the  South  in  general  does  not  yet  comprehend,  that 
the  battle  for  slavery  is  lost — lost  if  the  South  return  to 
the  Union,  lost  if  the  South  be  recognized  as  an  inde 
pendent  Confederacy. 

If  this  point  only  be  accorded,  we  have  no  need  of  his 
concession.  A  power  superior  to  his,  the  force  of  circum 
stances,  guarantees  to  us  that,  whatever  may  be  done, 
slavery  will  finally  disappear.  What  the  balloting  of  1860 
decided,  neither  victories  nor  defeats,  neither  Europe  nor 
America,  will  succeed  in  setting  aside. 

But,  it  is  said,  Jefferson  Davis  makes  more  definite 
promises.  Well,  let  us  examine  these  promises.  He  will 
pledge  himself  not  to  reclaim  slaves  wrho  have  taken 
refuge  in  the  North !  I  can  easily  believe  it ;  such  a 
demand  would  not  meet  a  very  hearty  welcome.  He 
will  pledge  himself  to  admit  the  competition  of  free  la 
bor  !  I  am  likewise  convinced  of  it ;  in  the  first  place, 
because  this  competition  exists  already  in  some  measure  ; 
next,  because  it  is  the  only  means  of  furnishing  a  sub 
stitute  for  expiring  slavery,  of  infusing  fresh  life  into 
Southern  cultures,  and  of  drawing  European  emigration 
into  the  new  Confederacy. 

He  will  pledge  himself  to  procure  the  passage  of  a 
decree  of  progressive  emancipation,  in  consideration  of 
certain  delays  justified  by  the  difficulties  of  the  position  ! 
Here,  my  doubts  begin.  What  will  this  progressive 
emancipation  be  ?  May  it  not  consist  in  the  suppression 
of  a  few  abominable  practices,  sanctioned  at  present  by 
the  laws  of  the  South,  and  which  too  deeply  offend  the 
conscience  of  the  Old  World  ?  "  No,"  is  the  exclama 
tion.  "Jefferson  Davis  promises  to  procure  the  free 
dom  of  all  children  born  from  this  time !"  I  must  see 
this  before  believing  it.  However  rapid  may  be  the  pro- 


34  EUROPE  AND  THE  AMEEICAN   CRISIS. 

gress  of  providential  retribution  in  some  cases,  I  do  not 
imagine  that  the  South,  after  rebelling  in  the  name  of 
slavery,  is  already  reduced  to  bow  its  head  to  the  dust, 
to  disavow  the  principles  laid  down  so  lately  in  its  name, 
to  undertake  humbly  the  task  of  destroying  the  holy 
institution,  to  the  support  of  which  it  had  devoted  itself 
with  so  much  ardor  and  eclat.  To  revolt  in  1861  because 
the  extension  of  slavery  was  menaced,  and  to  promise 
in  1862  to  destroy  slavery  with  its  own  hands,  would  be 
to  show  itself  too  eager  to  arrive  at  the  forced  disavowal 
of  its  dearest  principles. 

It  is  true  that  to  make  promises  and  keep  them  are 
two  different  things.  If  the  question  were  only  that  of 
obtaining,  by  an  apparently  important  concession,  this 
recognition,  without  which  its  ruin  must  be  accomplished, 
the  South  would  perhaps  consent  to  the  diplomatic  abo-: 
lition  of  slavery ;  this  depends  on  the  degree  of  distress 
which  it  may  have  reached,  and  its  powerlessness  to  main 
tain  its  rebellion  without  that  moral  support  from  Europe 
which  must  necessarily  bring  material  support  in  its  train. 

Suppose,  in  consequence,  that  Jefferson  Davis  promises 
to  obtain  abolition.  What  is  this  promise  to  obtain  abo 
lition,  in  reality  ?  A  promise  to  present  to  the  Congress 
at  Richmond  a  bill  overthrowing  the  social  constitution 
of  the  South  from  its  very  foundation.  The  bill  will 
be  then  discussed  by  the  Senate  and  Representatives. 
Will  they  not  find  good  reasons  to  maintain  that  such  a 
change  cannot  be  improvised  in  this  wise,  that  the  people 
are  not  prepared  for  it,  that  they  cannot  brave  their  co 
lossal  displeasure,  that  they  cannot  destroy  the  Southern 
Confederacy  on  the  morrow  of  its  foundation  ? 

Those  who  retail  among  us  the  nonsensical  tale  of 
abolition  promised  in  exchange  for  recognition,  must 
suppose  that  we  have  short  memories.  It  is  not  long 


HOW   TO    EXPLAIN   THE    ATTITUDE    OF   EUROPE.  35 

since  the  Constitution  of  the  South  was  adopted,  and  the 
two  essential  articles  which  distinguished  it  from  the  an 
cient  Constitution  were,  on  the  one  hand,  the  sanctioning 
of  slavery,  and  on  the  other,  the  sanctioning  of  the  sover 
eignty  of  each  State.  These  two  articles,  closely  allied  to 
gether,  as  the  whole  history  of  the  United  States  proves, 
are  designed  for  each  other's  protection.  Let  slavery  be 
menaced  by  the  negotiations  of  the  President  or  the  pro 
visions  of  Congress,  and  directly  the  local  sovereignty 
rises  in  its  might.  Each  State  demands  by  what  right  you 
have  decided  in  its  name  what  it  alone  had  power  to  de 
cide.  In  fact,  it  will  be  impossible  to  stop  short  of  this 
reasoning.  So  long  as  Jefferson  Davis  does  not  bring  us 
laws  decreeing  the  freedom  of  unborn  children,  passed 
by  each  of  the  Southern  States  and  ratified  if  need  be  by 
State  conventions,  his  promise  to  obtain  them  means  ab 
solutely  nothing. 

It  means  nothing,  it  is  true,  but  it  effects  something, 
nevertheless.  It  is  producing  a  great  effect  upon  that 
portion  of  the  European  public  who  would  ask  nothing 
better  than  to  intervene  with  honor,  to  ensure  the  exist 
ence  of  the  South,  to  put  an  end  to  the  crisis,  to  raise  the 
blockade,  and  to  obtain  the  transmission  of  cotton.  This 
part  of  the  public,  as  I  have  seen  with  my  own  eyes,  is 
delighted  to  learn  that  all  this  can  be  done  without  too 
strongly  opposing  the  question  of  emancipation  ;  it  may 
be,  while  serving  it.  It  believes  you  on  your  word,  with 
out  caring  to  scrutinize  it  very  closely.  The  rumor  is 
already  becoming  widely  diffused ;  it  has  crept  into  all 
the  journals  ;  we  hear  it  argued  in  every  discussion :  "  If 
we  recognize  the  South,  it  is  understood  that  it  will  eman 
cipate  all  children  unborn." 

If  we  recognize  the  South,  it  will  find  full  recogni 
tion,  even  though  it  should  afterward  inform  us  that  the 


36  EUROPE   AND   THE    AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

liberation  of  unborn  children  was  met  by  unforeseen  dif 
ficulties  which  could  not  be  surmounted  on  the  spot ;  that 
time  was  needed,  but  the  end  would  be  pursued  and, 
doubtless,  finally  attained.  A  recognition  is  not  as  easily 
recalled  as  a  promise.  Once  accomplished,  the  recogni 
tion  will  produce  its  effects :  the  strengthening  of  the 
administration  at  Richmond,  the  exasperation  of  the  ad 
ministration  at  Washington,  a  probable  war  between  the 
latter  and  Europe.  In  a  word,  the  position  of  affairs  will 
become  changed  in  a  day;  the  South  will  henceforth 
have  all  it  desires,  and  no  one  will  think,  in  the  midst  of 
these  conflicts,  of  asking  about  the  fulfilment  given  to  its 
promises ;  no  one  except,  perhaps,  a  few  European  abo 
litionists,  whose  tardy  anxiety  will  excite  but  little  inter 
est.  We  will  have  something  else  to  do  when  the  rupture 
has  taken  place  between  the  United  States  and  ourselves, 
when  our  journals  are  filled  with  their  misdeeds,  when 
angry  passions  are  stirred  up,  and  when  the  national  honor 
is  at  stake.  Our  whole  attention  will  then  be  given  to 
the  unrecognized  virtues  of  the  South,  and  perhaps,  for 
we  are  sure  of  nothing,  to  the  felicity  of  its  slaves. 

One  does  not  need  to  be  a  prophet  to  predict  all  this ; 
a  very  little  study  of  history  and  the  human  heart  will 
suffice.  Note,  moreover,  that  in  causing  the  emancipation 
of  unborn  children  to  be  talked  of  among  us,  the  agents 
of  Jefferson  Davis  attain  an  important  result,  suppos 
ing  even  that  they  do  not  succeed  in  gaining  this  would- 
be  conditional  recognition.  They  have  made  it  seem  pos 
sible,  they  have  mirrored  it  before  the  eyes  of  the  com 
munity,  they  have  restored  some  consistency  to  the  great 
hope  on  which  the  South  built  its  chances,  and  the  abso 
lute  loss  of  which  would  destroy  all  its  energy. 

But  I  refrain  from  discussion.  It  seems  to  me  that  I 
have  sufficiently  demonstrated  the  vanity  of  the  pledges 


HOW   TO    EXPLAIN    THE    ATTITUDE    OF    EUROPE.  37 

and  conditions  held  forth  ;  for  serious  inquirers  I  have  al 
ready  said  enough  ;  for  men  whose  minds  are  made  up, 
who  are  determined  to  believe  in  whatever  they  are  de 
termined  to  do,  I  should  never  say  enough.  I  wish  only, 
before  closing  this  chapter,  to  dwell  upon  the  moral  as 
pect  of  the  projects  extolled  among  us  during  the  past 
year — projects  which  have  been  unceasingly  embellished, 
ameliorated,  and  arranged  to  suit  our  taste,  and  the  uni 
form  conclusion  as  also  the  sole  end  of  which  has  been 
the  recognition  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

Their  common  characteristic,  although  they  talk  much 
of  peace,  is  a  war  in  the  background.  It  is  true  that  this 
is  not  a  war  of  the  North  against  the  South,  but  of  the 
United  States  against  Europe.  I  do  not  inquire  whether 
this  new  war  will  be  less  ruinous  than  the  old,  whether  it 
will  not  at  once  stamp  the  present  struggle  wTith  a  charac 
ter  of  atrocity  and  devastation,  whether  it  will  not  be  the 
beginning  of  general  conflicts  before  which  the  mind  re 
coils  with  horror.  We  will  set  aside  considerations  of 
this  sort,  however  important  they  may  be  in  themselves. 
I  speak  of  another  kind  of  destruction — the  destruction 
of  the  friendly  feelings  which  exist  between  America  and 
ourselves. 

According  to  some,  this  wrould  be  but  a  trifling  loss. 
I  think  differently.  The  day  will  be  a  fearful  one,  in  my 
opinion,  when,  by  sowing  injustice,  we  shall  prepare  for 
ourselves  and  our  children  after  us  a  harvest  of  long-lived 
and  inextinguishable  enmities,  alwrays  ready  to  embroil 
the  New  World  and  the  Old. 

The  United  States  will  not  be  destroyed  ;  thank  God  ! 
it  is  given  to  no  one  to  strike  from  the  list  of  great  na 
tions  this  people,  now  passing  through  a  crisis  as  grievous 
as  salutary,  and  which  will  emerge  from  it  stronger  be 
cause  it  will  be  better.  The  point  in  question  is  not  sim- 


38  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

ply  that  of  irritating  this  people  by  a  measure  which  will 
wound  them  in  the  most  sensitive  part,  but  of  introducing 
a  measure  which  will  produce  a  state  of  perpetual  antag 
onism. 

The  policy  recommended  by  the  friends  of  the  South 
is  nothing  less,  let  us  not  forget,  than  the  rule  of  Europe 
in  America,  by  which  I  do  not  mean  any  mingling  of  Eu 
rope  in  American  discussions.  No,  I  am  not  one  of  those 
who  believe  that  the  Monroe  doctrine  should  remain  in 
tact  amidst  the  conflicts  of  the  nineteenth  century.  I  be 
lieve  in  the  frequent  intervention  of  Europe  in  America 
and  of  America  in  Europe ;  I  believe  in  the  future  en 
trance  of  the  United  States  into  the  concert  of  great 
powers  ;  I  believe,  in  fine,  that  electricity  and  steam  have 
overthrown  many  artificial  distinctions,  and  that  it  wih1 
daily  become  more  difficult  to  live  in  isolation.  But  I  be 
lieve  at  the  same  time — and  this  question  will  be  discussed 
with  all  the  care  it  deserves  in  another  part  of  my  work 
— I  believe  that  there  should  be  neither  European  su 
premacy  in  America  nor  American  supremacy  in  Europe. 
Nations  are  no  longer  in  a  state  of  pupilage,  and  preten 
sions  of  preponderance  will  soon  cease  to  be  tolerated 
anywhere. 

It  is  certain,  as  we  have  seen,  that  such  pretensions  lie 
at  the  bottom  of  the  policy  which  we  are  urged  to  prac 
tise.  "The  separation  ought  to  prevail !  We  have  de 
cided  that  you  are  not  in  a  condition  to  terminate  it ! 
You  shall  fight  no  longer  !  At  least  you  shall  only  fight 
in  such  or  such  a  manner  !"  Such  is  the  language  which 
is  dictated  for  our  use ;  and  as  men  are  laboring  to  secure, 
by  artificial  means,  the  foundation  of  a  State  which  could 
not  live  of  itself,  and  which  will  always  stand  in  need  of 
the  protection  without  which  it  would  not  have  been 
born,  it  thence  follows  that  European  influence,  and  al- 


HOW   TO   EXPLAIN   THE   ATTITUDE    OF   EUBOPE.          39 

most  domination,  will  gain  footing  in  the  very  heart  of 
the  Southern  States,  at  the  gates  of  Washington. 

Friends  of  peace,  ye  who  are  so  eager  to  arrest  the 
present  conflict,  who  at  need  would  draw  the  Popilian 
circle  around  President  Lincoln  by  forbidding  him  to 
maintain  the  blockade  and  pursue  its  advantages;  have 
you  reflected  on  the  endless  wars  which  you  are  laying  up 
for  the  future ;  have  you  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  conse 
quences  of  your  enterprise  ;  do  you  imagine,  by  chance, 
that  you  will  kill  the  United  States ;  and  if  you  do  not 
kill  them,  do  you  suppose  that  they  will  live  in  peace, 
having  you  some  day  on  both  sides  of  their  empire  in 
Virginia  and  Canada,  and  feeling  you  at  Quebec  and  New 
Orleans,  the  mouths  of  their  two  great  rivers  ? 

But  we  will  leave  this  point  also ;  we  will  go  directly 
to  "  the  "  true  question,  that  of  morality,  and  look  the  the 
ory  in  the  face  which  covers  the  future  recognition  of  the 
South. 

This  may  be  summed  up  in  a  sentence :  the  true  way 
to  emancipate  the  slaves  is  to  ensure  the  triumph  of  the 
partisans  of  slavery.  I  have  little  faith,  I  confess,  in  the 
good  results  of  injustice,  nor  do  I  forget  how  the  Apostle 
Paul  branded  the  maxim,  "  Do  evil  that  good  may  come." 
We  always  have  excellent  reasons  for  favoring  the  triumph 
of  bad  causes.  And  what  happens  next  ?  The  human 
conscience  becomes  troubled  and  perverted,  as  it  were, 
by  this  double  spectacle  of  our  complaisance  toward 
both  evil  and  the  good  which  appear  to  result  from 
it. 

Ah !  if  evil  gave  birth  to  nothing  but  evil,  evident 
evil,  immediate  destruction,  the  recoil  of  civilization,  if 
the  consequence  always  followed  directly  after  the  prin 
ciple,  like  the  child  after  the  mother,  the  danger  would 
be  less.  But  the  logic  of  history,  true  and  pitiless  as  it  is 


40  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

at  the  bottom,  does  not  present  this  incontestable  sequence 
upon  the  surface ;  it  often  happens,  and  the  American 
crisis  offers  an  example,  that  certain  progressive  events 
make  their  way  in  spite  of  every  thing,  and  that  the  agents 
of  Jefferson  Davis  end  by  obeying,  in  spite  of  themselves, 
the  impulse  commenced  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 
Emancipation  will  take  place,  as  I  have  said,  through  war 
or  peace,  under  favorable  or  adverse  influences,  with  union 
or  separation.  If,  therefore,  the  separation  should  be 
consolidated  through  our  mediation,  we  will  say  at  some 
future  day :  "  Since  the  separation  did  not  prevent  affran 
chisement,  it  effected  it." 

Is  it  nothing,  I  ask,  to  weaken  the  few  moral  ideas 
which  subsist  among  us  in  the  midst  of  triumphant  ma 
terialism  ?  Indignation  against  slavery  was  one  of  these 
ideas ;  but  on  the  day  that  we  shall  be  seen  to  strike 
hands  with  the  South,  to  propound  theories  in  favor  of 
its  rebellion,  and  to  demonstrate  that  it  has  beer,  of 
service  in  its  way  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  the  human  soul 
will  pass  through  a  fearful  crisis,  and  the  light  of  con 
science  will  wax  dim. 

Occasions  to  show  the  importance  of  a  principle  are 
rare.  What  a  valuable  lesson  would  it  have  been  to  our 
whole  generation,  to  have  seen  Europe,  in  spite  of  the 
temptations  of  policy  and  the  demands  of  interest,  deter 
mined  not  to  compound  either  intimately  or  remotely 
with  those  who  had  dared  adopt  as  the  motto  of  their 
flag,  "  the  sanctity  and  perpetuity  of  slavery  !  "  By  this 
single  act,  we  should  have  elevated  the  standard  of  mo 
rality.  Such  a  victory  is  not  without  its  value. 

This,  I  know,  is  not  shrewd  policy  /  but  to  us  weak 
minds,  who  think  that  man  does  not  live  by  bread  alone, 
and  that  communities  also  die  of  hunger  when  we  forget 
to  satisfy  their  highest  needs,  to  us,  the  success  of  Europe 


HOW   TO   EXPLAIN   THE   ATTITUDE   OF   EUROPE  41 

in  America  would  have  been  complete  if  it  had  manifested 
there  its  natural  sympathy  for  good  and  its  natural  an 
tipathy  to  evil.  The  Rebellion,  proclaimed  in  the  name  of 
slavery,  would  have  known  on  what  to  rely ;  it  would 
have  had  to  examine  by  itself  whether  it  could  by  its  own 
strength  conquer  that  independence  in  fact,  which  should 
precede  and  not  follow  its  official  recognition.  It  is  proba 
ble  that,  reduced  to  these  terms,  the  question  would  have 
been  ere  long  resolved,  and  that  the  civil  war  would  have 
been  of  short  duration.  In  any  case,  the  South  would 
have  had  no  right  to  say:  "I  hold  Europe  through 
cotton  ;  she  must  walk  straight.  I  predicted  that  I  would 
conquer  her  repugnance,  and  I  have  done  so ;  I  said  that 
I  would  force  her  to  take  my  part,  and  I  have  suc 
ceeded." 

In  other  words,  there  is  neither  good  nor  evil,  but  in 
terest  alone  :  rest  your  claims  on  your  interests,  and  you 
will  succeed ;  and  it  will  be  even  demonstrated,  through 
the  refinement  of  modern  times,  that  in  immolating  prin 
ciples,  you  have  rendered  them  good  service.  May  God 
preserve  us  from  receiving  such  a  lesson!  We  should 
profit  by  it  but  too  well.  Believe  me,  there  are  moral 
defeats  which  tell  on  the  destiny  of  nations. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

BELLIGEEENTS  AND   NEUTRALITY. 

IF  I  enter  unembarrassed  on  the  examination  of  our 
American  policy,  if  my  criticism  bear  with  equal  freedom 
upon  the  propositions  which  are  made  to  us,  and  the 
resolves  that  we  have  already  taken,  it  is  not  only  be 
cause  the  chief  initiative  has  belonged  to  England,  or 
because  the  collective  responsibility,  the  European  re 
sponsibility,  covers  every  thing,  so  that  I  have  much  less 
to  blame  in  the  faults  of  a  government  than  in  the  low 
state  of  public  opinion  and  the  moral  languor  of  the 
whole  world ;  but  also  because  I  love  my  country,  and 
because  it  is  a  real  duty  in  my  sight  to  warn  it  when  it 
seems  to  me  in  danger  of  straying  from  the  right  path. 
That  this  duty  is  a  right,  no  one  will  certainly  think  of 
doubting. 

I  shall  therefore  proceed,  sure  of  my  sincerity  and  re 
spect  for  good  intentions,  sure  of  mingling  no  hidden 
thought  of  any  nature  whatsoever  in  the  loyal  study  of 
our  relations  with  the  United  States.  Let  us  go  back  at 
once  to  the  measure  which  contains  the  germ  of  all  the 
rest.  In  the  quality  of  belligerents,  granted  so  speedily 
to  the  insurgents  of  the  South,  is  found  comprised,  as  we 


BELLIGEKENTS   AND   NEUTRALITY.  43 

may  say,  the  entire  series  of  acts  which,  commencing  with 
official  neutrality,  has  recognition  for  its  extreme  term. 
Would  you  refute  a  sophism  ?  Examine  the  major  propo 
sition — the  snare  is  there.  Would  you  study  a  political 
tendency  which  disquiets  you  ?  Examine  its  earliest  mani 
festation. 

To  confer  on  the  insurgents  of  the  South  the  title  of 
belligerents,  and  to  claim  for  ourselves  the  position  of 
neutrals,  seems  quite  in  conformity  wTith  that  circumspect 
and  unchivalrous  wisdom  which  is  sure  of  obtaining  gen 
eral  approbation.  What  is  better  to  be  done,  in  the 
presence  of  such  a  crisis,  than  to  stand  aloof,  to  wait  a 
little,  to  entertain  neither  opinions  nor  preferences  ? 
This  is  the  first  view  of  things,  at  which  it  is  usual  to 
stop.  It  is  only  by  scrutinizing  more  closely  that  we  dis 
cover  that  the  neutrality  thus  proclaimed  is  as  little  neu 
tral  as  can  be  imagined ;  it  settles  the  constitutional 
question  discussed  in  the  United  States,  and  decides  that 
the  United  States  are  a  league,  not  a  nation ;  it  grants  to 
the  South  all  that  it  demands ;  it  bears  so  slight  a  resem 
blance  to  non-interference  that  not  one  of  the  first-class 
European  powers  would  for  an  hour  endure  the  applica 
tion  to  its  own  affairs  of  the  theory  which  they  apply  to 
the  government  at  Washington. 

The  latter  government,  too,  has  unceasingly  protested 
against  it.  It  may  be  said  that  it  protested  in  advance, 
for  the  despatches  of  Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Dayton  foresaw 
the  possibility  that  Europe  might  entertain  the  thought 
of  treating  the  Southern  rebels  as  belligerents.  The  fears 
of  Mr.  Seward  being  speedily  realized,  he  has  never  wear 
ied,  as  all  will  remember,  of  demonstrating  in  his  diplo 
matic  correspondence  that  the  character  of  belligerents 
belongs  to  independent  powers,  to  established  govern 
ments  struggling  with  each  other ;  that  it  cannot  belong, 


44  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

that  it  has  never  belonged  in  fact,  to  a  self-styled  State, 
founded  by  a  rebellion  not  yet  victorious  and  out  of 
danger. 

The  importance  of  the  principle  is  such  that  the  re 
sistance  upon  this  point  has  never  staggered  for  a  single 
moment.  The  United  States  have  maintained — and  why 
should  it  astonish  us? — that  they  are  still  the  United 
States ;  that  a  sovereignty  attacked  is  not  a  sovereignty 
destroyed ;  that  the  pretensions  of  the  South  do  not  con 
stitute  a  right ;  that  no  one  is  authorized  to  hold  them  as 
conquered  before  they  are  so,  be^pre  the  war  has  even 
commenced  in  good  earnest.  They  have  maintained  their 
principle,  that  is,  their  right,  with  an  energy  full  of  sad 
ness  and  dignity ;  adding  moreover  that,  so  long  as 
Europe  shall  not  join  positively  hostile  acts  to  an  insult 
ing  doctrine,  they  will  content  themselves  with  expressing 
their  sorrow,  and  will  continue  to  count  on  the  friendly 
sentiments  of  the  powers. 

Let  us  be  just  toward  all !  The  attitude  of  the  cabi 
net  at  Washington  in  the  presence  of  so  grave  a  difficulty, 
has  been  of  a  nature  to  conciliate  universal  esteem. 
Grieved,  without  being  violent ;  energetic,  without  being 
aggressive ;  refusing  to  listen  to  despatches  wherein  the 
rebels  were  styled  belligerents,  yet  not  hesitating  to  ac 
knowledge  the  amicable  proceedings  by  which  Europe 
has  more  than  once  redeemed  the  harshness  of  her  official 
language,  it  has  understood  how  to  preserve  its  position 
on  a  great  question  of  principle,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
avoid  exaggerating  it  so  far  as  to  compromise  the  practi 
cal  interests  of  the  day. 

Europe,  in  fact — I  recall  it  to  her  honor — after  having 
taken  the  enormous  stride  of  declaring  the  South  bel 
ligerent  and  herself  neutral,  felt  the  need  of  proving  that 
she  by  no  means  intended  to  carry  out  her  theories  to 


BELLIGERENTS   AND   NEUTRALITY.  45 

the  end,  and  that  her  declarations  did  not  comprise  all 
that  men  fancied  they  saw  in  them.  In  closing  her  ports 
and  those  of  her  colonies  to  vessels  with  prizes,  she  struck 
a  death-blow  to  the  privateers  of  the  South  ;  which,  more 
over,  have  made  more  noise  than  they  have  done  harm, 
and  which  have  never  been  able  to  exert  an  appreciable 
influence  on  the  issue  of  the  conflict.  But  this,  on  the 
part  of  Europe,  was  simply  the  regular  accomplishment 
of  the  duties  imposed  by  the  blockade ;  she  did  more, 
she  did  not  treat  the  blockade  of  the  South  by  the  Fed 
eral  fleet  with  rigor.  If  this  is  now  effective,  it  has  not 
been  always  so,  and  nothing  would  have  then  been  easier 
than  to  have  given  a  fatal  blow  to  the  North ;  it  would 
have  only  been  necessary  to  make  a  rigorous  application 
thereto  of  the  rules  of  international  law.  France  and 
England  have  been  unwilling  to  do  this ;  it  has  been  re 
pugnant  to  them  thus  to  lend  an  avowed  support  to  the 
champions  of  slavery.  This  mark  of  good  feeling,  for 
which  the  cabinet  at  Washington  has  shown  itself  grate 
ful,  has  established  an  important  difference  between  the 
real  conduct  of  the  European  governments  and  the  policy 
attributed  to  them  by  plotting  intriguers. 

That  this  policy  has  been  hesitating,  I  am  convinced  ; 
that  it  committed  a  great  fault  in  the  beginning  by  pro 
claiming  the  insurgents  to  be  belligerents,  I  have  just 
said,  and  am  about  to  demonstrate  ;  but  that  it  acted 
in  this  manner  deliberately,  with  the  fixed  design  of  pro 
ceeding  thence  to  recognition,  cost  what  it  might ;  that  it 
had  in  clear  view  the  attainment  of  an  end,  and  not  an 
unavowed  tendency  or  temptation,  I  deny :  a  Europe 
determined  to  cut  the  United  States  in  twain,  would  not 
have  hesitated  to  contest  last  year's  blockade.  I  have 
therefore  great  hopes.  Provided  that  public  opinion  be 
fully  aroused,  all  will  go  well \  we  have  already  crossed 


46  EUROPE    AND   THE    AHEEICAN   CEISIS. 

over  more  than  one  dangerous  defile,  we  will  pass  safely 
through  others.  Between  the  rumors  which  the  patrons 
of  the  South  have  an  interest  in  propagating,  and  facts  as 
they  really  happen,  the  difference  is  great,  God  be 
praised !  Under  favor  of  this  remark,  I  resume  the  ex 
amination  which  I  have  undertaken. 

You  remember  the  shudder  that  ran  through  our 
veins — ours,  the  declared  friends  of  the  United  States — 
when  the  English  journals  brought  us  the  speech  of  Lord 
John  Russell,  in  which  the  word  belligerent  was  uttered 
for  the  first  time.  Mr.  Seward  had  no  need  to  teach  us 
the  scope  of  such  a  word ;  we  understood  it  on  the  spot, 
and  were  strucK  with  consternation.  It  seemed  to  us  that 
a  tongue  so  liberal  as  that  of  Lord  John  Russell  was  not 
framed  to  give  such  encouragement  to  the  South.  It 
seemed  to  us  that  England,  which  had  not  shown  herself 
really  prepared  in  the  Crimea  until  ten  or  twelve  months 
had  elapsed,  was  ill  placed  to  proclaim  at  the  end  of  a  few 
weeks  the  military  powerlessness  of  the  United  States. 
Their  ministers  had  not  yet  reached  the  shores  of  Europe 
when  this  powerlessness  was  already  admitted  to  the  rank 
of  proven  facts ;  whence  it  followed  that  the  insurrec 
tional  government,  sure  of  existence,  deserved  to  be  con 
sidered  as  belligerent.  When  we  remember  that  the 
despatch  in  which  Mr.  Seward  announces  his  refusal  to 
receive  correspondence  containing  this  term  is  dated  on 
the  1 7th  of  June,  we  are  brought  to  acknowledge  that 
the  resolution  of  Europe  was  taken  from  the  beginning  of 
the  civil  war.  The  South  had  a  chance  of  success  unique 
in  history ;  its  first  gun  passed  for  a  victory ;  its  rebellion 
was  immediately  transformed  into  a  revolution  ;  it  had  no 
childhood,  but  was  born  full-grown.  The  rebellion  of  a 
day,  behold  it  a  government  in  fact,  while  waiting  till  it 


BELLIGERENTS   AND   NEUTRALITY.  47 

should  make  itself  acknowledged  as  a  government  by 
right !  * 

It  is  not  usually  thus ;  before  perceiving  two  States 
where  there  was  lately  but  a  single  one,  before  placing  on 
a  footing  of  equality  a  regular  government  and  those  who 
are  attacking  it,  we  ordinarily  wait  until  the  latter  have 
been  victorious,  have  maintained  their  existence,  and  have 
shown  some  other  sign  of  vitality  than  a  first  success,  se 
cured  by  treason ! 

To  judge  the  value  of  the  favor  thus^accorded  to  the 
South,  we  have  only  to  ask  ourselves  what  we  should  have 
thought  of  the  United  States  if  they  had  consented  to 
concede  to  it  this  belligerent  character  ?  Would  there  have 
been  hisses  enough  found  for  them  in  all  Europe  ?  What 
would  not  have  been  said  of  a  country  which  did  not  even 
know  enough  to  respect  itself  and  to  fall  with  dignity  ? 
What !  to  strike  its  flag  at  the  first  summons ;  to  admit 
with  a  good  grace  that  its  existence  as  a  great  nation  had 
ceased,  that  every  rebellion  against  it  was  invincible,  that 
every  rupture  founded  a  government  within  its  borders, 
that  its  sovereignty  had  fallen  on  the  south  of  the  Poto 
mac,  that  it  might  make  war  there,  but  only  such  war  as 
takes  place  between  States,  the  war  of  belligerents ! 

What  America  could  not  honorably  accept,  could  Eu 
rope  legitimately  establish  ?  History  will  reply. 

When  Ireland,  a  distinct  kingdom  notwithstanding, 
rose  in  insurrection  against  England  in  1796,  who  among 
friendly  powers  thought  of  conferring  on  the  Irish  the 

*  If  the  question  were  only  that  of  constituting  a  government  and 
securing  the  working  of  a  partially  regular  administration,  every  fraction 
of  a  country  in  revolt  against  the  nation  of  which  it  formed  a  part,  could, 
without  delay,  procure  this  title  to  the  position  of  belligerent.  To  con 
stitute  a  regular  government ! — but  this  has  now  become  the  first  letter 
of  the  alphabet :  every  rebellion  begins  in  this  wise. 


48  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

title  of  belligerents  ?  It  would  not  have  been  a  very  safe 
proceeding,  I  think,  to  have  declared  by  official  means 
that  they  were  any  thing  else  than  insurgents. 

When,  at  the  time  of  our  religious  wars,  (I  take  the 
epoch  when  the  present  centralization  was  not  in  exist 
ence,)  a  few  of  our  French  provinces  were  in  arms  against 
the  Valois,  what  answer  would  have  been  given  to  the 
ambassador  of  an  allied  country  sent  to  say  that  the  south 
of  France  would  be  henceforth  held  as  belligerent,  and 
that  neutrality  would  be  observed  between  this  belliger 
ent  power  and  the  king  ? 

Let  us  take  more  modern  examples.  Look  at  Hun 
gary.  She  is  a  kingdom  apart,  having  her  own  constitu 
tion  and  her  local  sovereignty.  In  her  insurrection 
against  Austria,  she  certainly  gained  more  battles  and 
kept  the  field  longer  than  the  men  of  Charleston  had 
done  when  it  was  deemed  proper  to  transform  their  civil 
war  into  a  foreign  one.  Hungary  had  given  itself  a  gov 
ernment  as  well  as  Montgomery.  This  government  even 
could  not  be  destroyed  until  Russia  came  to  aid  in  its 
suppression.  Yet  notwithstanding,  did  the  thought  ever 
occur  to  us  to  speak  of  it  as  a  belligerent  ? 

Neither  did  we  talk  of  belligerents  when  Poland,  a 
distinct  kingdom  also,  and  guaranteed  by  treaties,  fought 
against  Nicholas  in  1830.  During  this  heroic  and  several 
times  successful  war  of  the  Chlopicki,  the  Czartoryski,  and 
the  Skrzynecki,  I  am  not  aware  that  the  theory  of  bellig 
erents  made  its  appearance  anywhere;  the  Russians  would 
have  seen  in  it  a  mortal  insult. 

Let  us  ask  ourselves,  for  I  will  end  where  I  began, 
how  we  should  have  welcomed  the  title  of  belligerent 
bestowed  on  Abd-el-Kader  ?  Our  neighbors  across  the 
Channel  would  have  also  protested,  I  imagine,  and  in  a 
somewhat  haughty  tone,  if,  during  the  revolt  in  India, 


BELLIGERENTS    AND    NEUTRALITY.  49 

any  power  had  bethought  of  proclaiming  its  neutrality, 
by  recognizing  in  this  great  people,  risen  in  behalf  of  its 
nationality,  the  quality  of  belligerent. 

I  need  not  go  out  of  America,  moreover,  to  demon 
strate  that  the  theory  which  recognizes  belligerents  at  the 
end  of  a  few  weeks,  was  never  invented  and  put  in  appli 
cation  before  the  Southern  insurrection.  The  insurrection 
of  the  colonies  in  the  last  century,  which  was  about  to 
create  the  United  States,  was  no  slight  thing,  I  fancy ; 
it  was  truly  a  national,  energetic,  sustained  movement. 
Nevertheless,  even  the  enemies  of  Great  Britain  would 
have  thought  themselves  setting  at  naught  the  most  ele 
mentary  principles  of  the  right  of  nations,  if  they  had 
hastened  beyond  measure  to  treat  the  Americans  as  bel 
ligerents. 

This  time,  our  haste  is  explained  by  arguing  the  im 
portance  of  the  movement — it  is  the  half  of  the  United 
States  that  has  seceded  ! 

A  figure  is  often  thrown  in  to  support  this  summary 
assertion — twelve  millions,  fifteen  millions  of  inhabitants. 

Does  the  separation  become  more  lawful,  when  those 
who  decree  it  are  more  numerous  ?  I  will  dispense  with 
investigating  this  question,  for  the  importance  of  the  se 
ceding  States  has  been  strangely  exaggerated.  "We  for 
get,  in  the  first  place,  to  strike  out  the  Border  States  that 
remain  faithful  to  the  Union.  "We  forget  next  to  strike 
out  the  slaves,  who  have  not  voted  for  separation,  that  I 
nm  aware.  The  truth  is,  that,  supposing  even  the  white 
population  to  be  unanimous,  (and  we  have  many  reasons 
to  doubt  this,)  scarcely  six  millions  are  in  question,  six 
millions  out  of  twenty-eight.  And  mark  that  these  six 
millions  of  whites  are  charged  with  guarding  three  mil 
lion  three  hundred  thousand  slaves. 
3 


50  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

The  insurgent  South  comprises  vast  territories,  almost 
destitute  of  inhabitants  ;  beautiful  countries  rendered  ster 
ile  by  slavery.  The  States  most  numerously  populated 
are  elsewhere — New  York,  Ohio,  and  Pennsylvania, 
known  as  the  Keystone  State.  Manifest  destiny,  too,  is 
elsewhere ;  the  West  seems  fated,  ere  long,  to  govern  the 
United  States. 

But  I  am  careful  not  to  stop  at  such  considerations ; 
there  must  be  a  rule,  a  principle  in  the  matter,  and  it  is 
this  principle  that  I  wish  to  discover.  So  long  as  we 
have  not  reached  it,  wre  are  treading  on  unstable 
ground. 

I  hear  a  great  deal  said  about  modern  law — the  law  of 
nationalities.  We  are  asked  why  we  refuse  to  the  South 
ern  Confederacy,  organized,  armed,  supplied  with  a  con 
stitution  and  a  president,  the  benefit  of  a  doctrine  which 
has  been  practised  elsewhere.  Is  not  this  also  u  govern 
ment  de  facto  f 

I  am  willing  that  every  successful  rebellion  should  be 
metamorphosed  into  a  government ;  I  add,  even,  that  I 
think  it  just,  although  I  am  no  lover  of  rebellions.  There 
is  no  other  way,  in  fact,  of  averting  the  interference  of 
foreign  powers ;  and  if  foreign  powers  are  not  to  inter 
fere,  it  is  clear  that  governments  must  be  founded  by 
success. 

But  this  success  is  indispensable.  In  the  nineteenth 
century  as  in  those  preceding,  in  modern  as  in  ancient 
law,  a  rebellion  remains  a  rebellion  so  long  as  it  be  not 
victorious.  Here  is  an  armed  conflict,  whose  first  suc 
cesses,  which  it  was  easy  to  foresee,  have  not  been  fol 
lowed  by  any  serious  result ;  it  is  less  triumphant  than 
on  the  first  day,  for  the  national  armies  have  gained  a 
footing  everywhere  on  its  soil,  whilst  it  has  not  taken  a 
step  in  advance ;  the  struggle,  moreover,  has  not  com- 


BELLIGERENTS    AND    NEUTRALITY.  51 

menced  in  earnest.  I  see  here  neither  a  government  de 
facto,  nor  a  belligerent ;  modern,  no  more  than  ancient 
law,  commands  me  to  see  any  thing  else  than  insurgents. 

Modern  law  is  something  less  absurd  and  less  arbitrary 
than  those  who  extol  it  on  every  occasion,  but  who  seem 
to  understand  but  little  of  it,  would  make  us  believe. 
Laying  aside  high-sounding  words,  modern  law  is  simply 
justice,  for  it  is  non-intervention  ;  nothing  more,  nothing 
less.  Let  each  people  settle  its  own  affairs  and  determine 
its  own  destinies ;  we  outsiders  are  at  liberty  to  approve 
or  blame  its  acts,  but  not  to  meddle  with  them.  This 
theory  is  not  without  nobleness  ;  the  point  in  question  is 
not  to  worship  power  or  success,  but  to  respect  the  inde 
pendence  of  nations.  A  nation  is  independent  only  on 
condition  of  being  free  to  commit  follies  within  itself,  if  it 
please  without  fear  of  punishment  from  any. 

This  admitted,  if  the  South  had  rendered  evident  the 
powerlessness  of  the  North  for  its  reduction,  if  its  inde 
pendence  had  ceased  to  be  contested  by  arms,  at  least,  in 
a  serious  manner,  if,  in  fine,  it  had  surmounted  the  chief 
difficulties  in  its  way,  we  might  be  authorized  in  saying, 
"  The  South  is  not  insurgent,  but  belligerent ;  it  has 
acquired  the  consistency  of  a  new  State,  which  by  and  by 
will  receive  recognition,  and  which  contends  with  the 
Washington  Government  meanwhile  on  a  footing  of 
veritable  equality."  But  the  position  of  the  South  is  that 
of  a  rebellion  which  is  weaker  to-day  than  it  was  a  year 
ago,  and  which  will  succumb  the  moment  that  it  is  left 
alone  to  face  the  United  States.  To  invoke  modern  law, 
the  right  of  nationalities  in  its  behalf,  is  out  of  the 
question. 

The  first  right  of  nationalities  is  that  of  subsisting,  of 
suppressing  anarchical  movements,  and  of  maintaining  the 
action  of  the  laws.  The  theory  of  the  right  of  rebellion 


52  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS* 

is  a  new  one,  that  we  would  do  well  to  scrutinize  closely. 
"  We  have  the  determined  will  to  overthrow  the  estab 
lished  government !  We  are  resolved  to  separate  !"  Will 
this  henceforth  suffice  ?  Is  every  portion  of  a  territory 
that  chooses  to  detach  itself  from  the  whole,  to  be  trans 
formed  at  once  into  a  sort  of  new,  semi-recognized  State, 
whose  defenders  will  be  soldiers  instead  of  insurgents, 
and  whose  flag  will  take  rank  among  national  banners  ? 

Lot  us  beware  !  It  seems  to  me  that  rebellions  stand 
in  no  need  of  encouragement,  as  times  go.  Nothing  can 
be  better  than  to  let  them  run  their  course,  to  recognize 
those  which  are  victorious,  to  admit  as  belligerent  a  new 
State  detached  from  an  old  one  as  soon  as  it  has  decided 
ly  made  a  place  for  itself  on  earth ;  I  go  thus  far,  for  it 
is  impossible  to  stop  short  of  it  without  desiring  foreign 
intervention.  But  to  invent  a  special  category  of  rebel 
lions  which,  without  being  victorious,  may  some  day  be4 
come  so,  and  to  which  shall  be  accorded  before  trial  the 
benefit  of  possible  success,  would  be  to  establish  foreign  in 
tervention  under  another  form,  the  most  dangerous  of  all. 

Imagine  a  foreign  power  weighing  from  a  distance  the 
obscure  chances  of  an  intestine  conflict,  and  judging  in 
its  wisdom  (that  is,  according  to  its  caprice,  preference, 
or  interest)  that  this  insurrection  is  hopeless,  while  the 
other  will  succeed  ;  that  this  separation  is  ephemeral, 
while  the  other  will  be  perpetual !  Before  every  serious 
struggle,  before  the  separatists  shall  have  shown  their 
strength  or  weakness,  they  are  either  to  be  discouraged 
by  the  verdict  of  the  great  powers  which  leaves  them 
confounded  among  the  vulgar  class  of  insurgents,  or  en 
couraged,  on  the  contrary,  by  the  title  of  belligerents. 
This  is  not  a  trifle ;  such  a  moral  support  very  nearly 
promises  a  material  support,  and  takes  the  place  of  it  at 
need. 


BELLIGERENTS    AND    NEUTRALITY.  53 

It  must  not  be  concealed,  in  fact,  that  there  is  already 
in  the  title  of  belligerent  a  beginning  of  recognition.  It 
is  the  proclamation  of  an  intermediate,  equivocal  position, 
unknown  to  us  hitherto,  and  which  we  shall  do  well  to 
renounce  after  the  unhappy  trial  that  we  have  just  made 
of  it.  Formerly,  there  were  insurrectional  and  regular 
governments.  The  moment  that  an  insurrectional  govern 
ment  had  gained  its  cause,  it  was  recognized  ;  and  from 
that  day  forward,  if  it  made  war,  it  was  in  the  capacity  of 
belligerent.  The  idea  had  not  yet  been  conceived  of 
belligerents  without  recognition  ;  that  is,  imperfect  and  in 
some  sort  probational  States,  having  the  right  to  raise 
an  army  and  display  a  flag,  without  having  the  right  to 
demand  admission  into  the  family  of  nations. 

That  Europe  should  have  invented  this  theory  on  the 
occasion  and  for  the  benefit  of  the  Southern  rebellion,  can 
not  sufficiently  astonish  me.  Of  all  rebellions,  this  one 
seems  least  deserving  of  advances  and  favors.  "  You  have 
had  the  misfortune  to  rend  asunder  a  free  country,  and, 
not  having  been  able  quite  to  destroy  it,  have  dared  unfurl 
a  banner  sacred  to  the  perpetuity  and  sanctity  of  slavery  ! 
We  will  make  a  strict  application  in  your  case  of  the 
rules  established  by  the  law  of  nations  ;  ask  us  for  nothing 
more.  When  you  are  conquerors,  if  you  ever  become 
such,  when  your  independence  can  be  no  longer  seriously 
contested,  we  will  see  in  you  a  government  de  facto ; 
and  as  we  have  no  choice,  as  the  principle  of  non-inter 
vention  exacts  that  all  shall  be  admitted,  the  evil  and  the 
good,  those  which  shock  the  human  conscience  and  those 
which  embody  social  progress,  wre  will  recognize  you 
then,  and  not  an  hour  before." 

Such  language  I  would  have  understood.  I  am  well 
aware  that  the  moment  of  official  recognition  is  rarely 


54  EUROPE    AND   THE    AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

marked  by  signs  so  striking  that  it  can  be  by  no  means 
mistaken.  The  application  of  the  principle  by  virtue 
of  which  governments  in  fact  become  governments  by 
right,  is  almost  always  somewhat  discretionary,  I  will  not 
say  arbitrary.  The  recognition  may  be  to  some  extent 
hastened  or  retarded;  whence  it  comes  that  all  powers 
do  not  proclaim  it  on  the  same  day. 

This  is  quite  explicable ;  all  do  not  sympathize  alike 
with  the  cause  that  has  just  triumphed;  some  adopt, 
others  detest  it.  It  is  natural  that  they  should  not  acquire 
the  conviction  at  the  same  moment  that  victory  is  won 
beyond  recall. 

For  my  part,  I  like  this  slight  share  left  to  moral  pref 
erences  in  the  interpretation  of  modern  law ;  it  proves 
that  the  doctrine  of  governments  de  jacto  is  more  spirit 
ual  than  has  been  pretended;  it  takes  causes  into  ac 
count. 

To  take  account  of  causes  is  important,  be  sure,  in 
order  that  certain  enormities  may  meet  with  chastisement 
on  their  way,  and  that  success  may  not  stand  for  every 
thing.  Yes ;  whatever  may  happen,  in  virtue  of  a  superior 
law,  we  shall  always  feel  authorized  to  keep  such  or  such  a 
victor  waiting.  If  an  insurrectional  government  should 
be  anywhere  created,  announcing  its  intention  of  traffick 
ing  in  men  and  women,  selling  families  at  retail,  and  vir 
tually  suppressing  marriage,  I  do  not  think  that  we 
should  show  ourselves  eager  to  recognize  it,  or  to  confer 
on  it,  meanwhile,  the  character  of  a  belligerent. 

Alas !  what  I  have  just  presented  as  a  hypothesis  is  a 
reality  ;  the  South  has  revolted  and  seceded,  announcing 
to  the  whole  world  that,  without  this  act,  she  would  have 
been  in  danger  of  being  hampered  in  the  sale  of  men  and 
women,  in  the  retailing  of  families,  in  the  virtual  suppres 
sion  of  marriage.  And  her  rebellion  has  seemed  worthy 


BELLIGERENTS    AND   NEUTRALITY.  55 

of  special  favor  !  We  have  not  been  contented  to  treat 
it  as  a  plebeian  rebellion,  but  have  invented  for  its  plea 
sure  this  probationary  position  of  unrecognized  bellig 
erents  ! 

To  encourage  rebellion  when  it  is  only  rebellion,  when 
it  does  not  even  put  forward  an  honorable  pretext,  and  has 
nothing  in  its  favor  but  its  fair  face,  is  certainly  very  im 
prudent  ;  to  encourage  it  when  it  hurls  defiance  at  our 
sentiments  of  humanity,  sure  that  the  material  advan 
tages  which  it  has  at  its  disposal  will  gain  pardon  for  every 
thing,  is  more  than  imprudent,  it  is  sad. 

And  as  the  fault  comes  from  us,  from  our  moral  torpor, 
from  the  lethargy  of  our  public  opinion,  I  hope  that  the 
remedy  will  come  from  us  also ;  public  opinion,  awakened, 
will  undertake  to  teach  the  South  that  it  need  hope  for 
no  more  favors,  and  that  it  must  return  to  the  domain  of 
the  common  law.  There  are  causes  which  may  conquer 
the  official  admission  of  the  governments  which  represent 
them  to  the  rank  of  recognized  powers  before  the  precise 
moment ;  that  a  king  of  Italy,  who  has  become  such  in 
order  to  shut  out  foreign  troops  from  the  Italian  fron 
tier,*  and  to  constitute  a  great  nation,  may  be  eagerly 
welcomed,  we  can  readily  conceive;  but  that  a  South 
ern  Confederacy,  which  proposes  to  break  up  a  great, 
free  nation,  and  to  compensate  the  human  race  by  pre 
senting  to  it  an  ideal  State  based  on  slavery — that  this 
Confederacy,  whose  sole  hope  is  in  foreign  powers,  shall 
be  recognized  when  it  has  not  yet  been  victorious,  is  a 

*  I  ought  not  to  treat  of  the  Italian  question  here,  in  passing.  I 
belong  to  those  who  love  the  independence  of  Italy,  and  are  not  alarmed 
by  its  unity,  but  who  do  not  think  that  such  a  work  gains  any  thing  by 
being  accomplished  in  a  few  days.  By  giving  it  more  time  and  good 
conduct,  liberal  Piedmont  might  have  given  a  liberal  meaning  to  the 
too  much  decried  adage  :  Italia  far  a  da  se. 


56  EUROPE    AND   THE    AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

pretension  which  Europe  owes  it  to  herself  to  repulse  with 
indignation. 

It  was,  it  is  said,  for  the  interest  of  the  United  States 
themselves,  that  the  character  of  belligerent  was  attrib 
uted  to  the  insurgent  South.  How,  otherwise,  could 
they  have  regularly  exercised  all  the  rights  of  war? 
How,  otherwise,  for  instance,  could  they  have  maintained 
the  blockade,  and  instituted  a  search  for  contraband  of 
war  on  board  foreign  vessels  ?  Can  you  conceive  of  a 
blockade,  can  you  conceive  of  a  right  of  search,  where 
there  are  no  belligerents  ? 

We  can  easily  conceive  of  them,  and  the  writers  who 
are  authorities  in  respect  to  the  right  of  nations  have 
always  conceived  of  them,  likewise.  Grotius  speaks  at 
length  of  wars  which  he  calls  "  mixed ;"  that  is,  of  those 
which  take  place  between  a  legitimate  government  and  a 
considerable  party  in  insurrection  against  it.  Wheaton 
remarks,  and  no  one  that  I  know  of  has  contradicted  him, 
that  civil  war  gives  to  the  two  contending  parties  all  the 
rights  of  war  with  respect  to  each  other,  and  with  respect 
to  neutral  nations.* 

Of  what  use  is  it,  moreover,  to  consult  heavy  books, 
when  simple  good  sense  suffices  to  settle  the  question  ? 
Who  ever  dreamed  of  a  state  deprived  of  the  right  of 
employing  against  attacks  from  within,  the  means  of 
war  that  it  would  employ  against  enemies  from  without  ? 
What !  are  we  not  at  liberty  to  blockade  an  insurgent 
port  ?  What !  are  we  not  at  liberty  regularly  to  maintain 
this  blockade,  except  on  condition  of  first  according  to  the 
insurgent  government,  the  position  of  a  government  de 
facto,  independent  and  distinct  from  our  own  ?  At  the 

*  Elements  du  droit  international,  torn.  I.,  Part  I.,  Chap,  ii.,  §§ 
7-10,  and  Part  IV.,  §  7. 


BELLIGERENTS    AND    NEUTRALITY.  57 

time  of  the  insurrection  of  the  American  colonies  in  the 
last  century,  England  did  not  think  for  a  moment  of  see 
ing  belligerents  in  them ;  yet,  notwithstanding,  she  showed 
little  hesitation  in  exercising  the  right  of  search,  and 
would  have  showed  no  more  in  establishing  a  blockade, 
had  it  been  necessary  to  aid  her  military  operations.  I 
add  that  she  would  have  been  right. 

Here  is  a  new  scruple,  no  less  wonderful  than  the  first 
— if  Europe  had  not  transformed  the  Southern  rebels  into 
belligerents,  she  would  have  been  forced  to  hang  their 
privateersmen,  who  would  have  simply  been  pirates !  I 
do  not  see  that  we  are  ever  forced  to  hang  men  when  we 
do  not  wish  to.  Would  it  have  been  so  difficult  then  to 
declare  that,  through  motives  of  humanity,  the  vessels 
armed  as  privateers  by  the  South  should  not  be  treated 
as  pirates ;  that  even,  in  case  of  distress,  an  asylum  should 
be  granted  them  in  our  ports  ?  In  acting  thus,  in  wel 
coming  and  protecting  their  refugees,  Europe  would  have 
been  only  fulfilling  a  duty  and  conforming  her  conduct  to 
the  prevailing  sentiments  of  our  times.  No  one  would 
have  opposed  it,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  government  has 
proved  by  deeds  that  it  would  not  have  hesitated  to  imi 
tate  our  example.  Do  we  not  already  see  this  govern 
ment,  which  refused  to  recognize  the  South  in  the  char 
acter  of  a  belligerent,  rejecting  the  soi-disant  logical 
doctrine,  by  virtue  of  which  its  prisoners  of  war  should 
be  punished  as  traitors  ?  Does  it  apply  the  penal  law 
to  them  ?  Does  it  not  negotiate  exchanges  of  prisoners  ? 
Has  it  itself  hung  any  privateersmen  ? 

It  is  not  so  difficult  as  some  pretend  to  avoid  exces* 
sive  rigor  while  maintaining  the  truth  of  positions.  We 
have  seen,  it  seems  to  me,  revolutions  and  civil  wars 
enough  to  know  how  to  escape  from  embarrassment.  If 
rebels  remain  rebels,  purely  and  simply,  it  does  not  thence 


58  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

follow  that  foreign  powers  are  bound  to  trample  under 
foot  the  commonest  principles  of  humanity.  If  we  had 
not  created  belligerents  in  America,  we  should  have  re 
nounced  but  two  rights:  the  right  of  permitting  arms 
and  ammunition  to  be  sold  among  us  to  the  Southerners ; 
and  the  right  of  limiting  the  sojourn  of  United  States 
men-of-war  in  our  ports.  I  cannot  think  this  particularly 
vexatious. 

Is  it  true  that,  by  acting  in  this  manner,  we  should 
have  taken  sides  ?  This  is  another  very  simple  question, 
which  has  been  studiously  rendered  intricate.  We  will 
attempt  its  disentanglement. 

It  appears  strange,  at  first  sight,  that  to  maintain 
things  as  they  are,  to  see  a  regular  government  where 
there  is  a  regular  government,  to  see  a  rebellion  where 
there  is  a  rebellion,  is  to  take  sides.  Without  declaring 
one's  self  neutral  toward  a  friendly  power,  neutral  between 
it  and  the  insurgents,  it  is  certainly  justifiable  to  refrain 
from  interference  in  the  conflict. "  This  kind  of  neutrality, 
known  as  non-intervention,  will  not  of  course  be  contested 
by  us.  France  and  England  would  have  failed  in  their 
first  duty  if  they  had  not  been  thus  far  neutral ;  if  they 
had  brought  any  aid  whatever  to  the  Federal  Govern 
ment. 

Two  very  different  things  have  been  confounded  here : 
the  neutrality  in  fact,  which  every  one  desires  in  this,  as  in 
all  other  civil  wars ;  the  neutrality  founded  on  that  act 
of  veritable  intervention  which  transforms  insurgents  into 
belligerents.  We  might  be  neutral,  and  perfectly  neutral, 
without  recognizing  belligerents ;  we  might  interfere  in 
nothing  and  give  no  support  to  any  one,  without  begin 
ning  by  a  forced  modification  of  accustomed  positions. 
When  I  hear  it  said  that,  if  there  had  been  no  belligerents, 


BELLIGERENTS    AND    NEUTRALITY.  59 

there  would  have  been  no  neutrality,  I  seem  to  be  dream 
ing.  The  contrary  is  true  ;  in  order  that  the  neutrality 
should  remain  real,  it  was  important  that  the  prodigious 
moral  and  social  advantage  should  not  have  been  accord 
ed  to  the  South  which  was  conferred  on  it  from  the 
first. 

We  excel  in  being  satisfied  with  words.  Is  not  re 
cognizing  belligerents,  maintaining  equality?  Is  not 
maintaining  equality,  giving  proof  of  impartiality  and 
absolute  neutrality  ?  No ;  to  establish  equality  where  it 
does  not  exist,  is  to  serve  the  one  and  to  injure  the 
other;  to  place  a  belligerent  where  there  was  a  rebel,  is 
to  show  one's  self  as  far  from  neutral  as  is  possible  to 
imagine. 

Let  us  be  neutral,  let  us  hold  aloof,  let  us  leave  to 
Americans  the  care  of  regulating  the  affairs  of  America, 
let  neither  side  have  any  thing  to  fear  or  to  hope  from  us, 
let  them  have  before  them  a  loyal  struggle,  fair  play,  as 
they  say  in  England — the  friends  of  the  United  States 
have  never  demanded  any  thing  more. 

I  am  mistaken — they  have  also  demanded  what  har 
monizes  marvellously  with  official  neutrality  ;  namely,  the 
partiality  of  sympathies.  Sympathies  neither  know  nor 
should  know  neutrality.  And  here  again  I  encounter  one 
of  those  audacious  sophisms  raised  up  within  the  past 
year  to  hinder  us  from  doing  our  duty.  We  have  been 
almost  persuaded  that  political  neutrality  involved  moral 
neutrality  in  its  train  ! 

What  is  this  ?  because  I  am  neutral,  am  I  bound  to  be 
indifferent  ?  Because  I  abstain  from  every  act  which 
might  nearly  or  remotely  contribute  to  the  success  of 
either,  am  I  bound  to  repress  within  myself  my  most 
cherished  sentiments,  to  manifest  no  preference  between 


62  EUROPE    AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

and  Spain,  and  then  enter  laden  with  prisoners  into  those 
ports  which  would  have  been  closed  to  the  flag  of  a  rebel, 
but  which  are  open  to  the  flag  of  a  belligerent,  it  is  a  mis 
fortune  for  which  we  shall  soon  find  consolation  provided 
that  Europe,  comprehending  that  she  has  taken  the  wrong 
road,  henceforth  adopts,  resolutely  and  publicly,  the  prin 
ciples  of  true  neutrality. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BLOCKADES. 

THE  good  side,  hitherto,  of  the  course  held  by  Europe, 
is  that  she  has  given  proof  of  real  kindness  to  the  United 
States  in  forbearing  to  elude  the  blockade.  The  cabinet 
at  Washington  has  never  ceased  to  acknowledge  this, 
especially  in  the  celebrated  despatch  addressed  by  Mr. 
Seward  to  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  21st  of  last  July. 

The  value  of  this  friendly  conduct  cannot  be  denied  ; 
for  the  blockade  is  the  principal  weapon  of  the  United 
States  ;  it  is  the  most  humane  and  in  some  respects  the 
surest  means  of  reducing  the  rebellion.  Can  it  be  true 
that,  since  the  pacific  conclusion  of  the  Trent  affair,  there 
has  been  serious  question  of  modifying  the  attitude  of  the 
great  powers  upon  this  point  ?  A  great  deal  has  been 
said  on  the  subject,  and  this  one  and  that  one  accused. 
In  England,  the  Tory  journals,  and  also  those  reputed  to 
represent  the  ideas  of  Lord  Palmerston,  have  demanded 
for  some  time  that  the  Southern  ports  should  be  opened, 
if  necessary,  by  force.  Several  French  sheets  have  ap 
peared  to  sustain  the  same  theory,  perseveringly  urging 
the  suppression  of  the  blockade  and  the  recognition  of 
the  South. 


62  EUROPE    AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

and  Spain,  and  then  enter  laden  with  prisoners  into  those 
ports  which  would  have  been  closed  to  the  flag  of  a  rebel, 
but  which  are  open  to  the  flag  of  a  belligerent,  it  is  a  mis 
fortune  for  which  we  shall  soon  find  consolation  provided 
that  Europe,  comprehending  that  she  has  taken  the  wrong 
road,  henceforth  adopts,  resolutely  and  publicly,  the  prin 
ciples  of  true  neutrality. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BLOCKADES. 

THE  good  side,  hitherto,  of  the  course  held  by  Europe, 
is  that  she  has  given  proof  of  real  kindness  to  the  United 
States  in  forbearing  to  elude  the  blockade.  The  cabinet 
at  Washington  has  never  ceased  to  acknowledge  this, 
especially  in  the  celebrated  despatch  addressed  by  Mr. 
Seward  to  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  21st  of  last  July. 

The  value  of  this  friendly  conduct  cannot  be  denied  ; 
for  the  blockade  is  the  principal  weapon  of  the  United 
States  ;  it  is  the  most  humane  and  in  some  respects  the 
surest  means  of  reducing  the  rebellion.  Can  it  be  true 
that,  since  the  pacific  conclusion  of  the  Trent  affair,  there 
has  been  serious  question  of  modifying  the  attitude  of  the 
great  powers  upon  this  point  ?  A  great  deal  has  been 
said  on  the  subject,  and  this  one  and  that  one  accused. 
In  England,  the  Tory  journals,  and  also  those  reputed  to 
represent  the  ideas  of  Lord  Palmerston,  have  demanded 
for  some  time  that  the  Southern  ports  should  be  opened, 
if  necessary,  by  force.  Several  French  sheets  have  ap 
peared  to  sustain  the  same  theory,  perseveringly  urging 
the  suppression  of  the  blockade  and  the  recognition  of 
the  South. 


64  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

I  refuse  to  believe,  so  far  as  it  concerns  me,  that  the 
governments  will  ever  suffer  themselves  to  be  drawn  into 
such  a  policy.  As  times  go,  we  should  suspect  the  re 
ports  which  are  constantly  circulated  among  us  by  the 
champions  of  the  South.  The  most  amicable  movements 
are  transformed  into  menaces,  the  most  inoffensive  ob 
servations  are  to  lead  to  a  rupture,  while  the  violation 
of  the  blockade  and  the  recognition  of  the  South  are 
always  found  at  the  bottom  of  every  thing. 

Let  us  wait  for  official  acts,  nor  lightly  admit  that 
Europe,  scarcely  delivered  from  the  visions  of  war  which 
the  incident  of  the  Trent  had  conjured  up  before  her,  can 
be  persuaded  to  seize  upon,  we  may  say,  to  seek  a  new 
subject  of  quarrel.  There  are  those  in  England,  I  am 
well  aware,  who  urge  extreme  measures,  who  were  little 
rejoiced  at  the  liberation  of  the  commissioners,  and  Avho 
are  in  quest  of  pretexts  to  intervene  by  force  of  arms  to 
impose  peace  on  the  combatants,  to  obtain  a  fresh  supply 
of  cotton,  and  to  reestablish  commercial  relations.  But 
without  going  out  of  England,  these  men  will  find  listen 
ers,  and  I  do  not  know  why  we  should  afford  them  pleas 
ure  by  taking  their  hopes  for  realities. 

Nothing  is  so  long-lived  as  certain  hopes.  Although 
Lord  Russell,  by  his  despatch  dated  February  15,  has 
officially  recognized  the  American  blockade  as  regular, 
they  have  not  lost  courage.  In  my  opinion,  we  should 
remain  on  our  guard  ;  the  serious  study  of  the  question  is 
far  from  having  become  useless.  I  will  therefore  say  a 
few  words  concerning  it. 

The  blockade  is  more  effective  now  than  it  has  ever 
yet  been ;  it  would  be  consequently  at  least  strange  if 
any  power  should  think  of  attacking  to-day  what  it  did 
not  attack  some  months  ago.  The  fixed  purpose  of 


BLOCKADES.  65 

arriving  at  an  end  marked  out  in  advance,  would  thus  be 
clearly  manifested.  * 

I  repeat  that  I  believe  nothing  of  the  sort ;  but  if,  by 
any  possibility,  I  am  mistaken,  if  Europe  should  come  to 
contest  the  American  blockade,  would  she,  by  strict  right, 
be  authorized  to  act  in  this  wise  ?  Let  us  examine. 

The  first  argument  of  the  adversaries  of  the  blockade 
consists  in  saying  that,  the  United  States  not  having  rec 
ognized  the  South  in  the  capacity  of  belligerent,  it  thence 
follows  that  the  Southern  ports  are  their  own  ;  and,  they 
add,  no  one  can  blockade  his  own  harbors. 

And  why  not,  if  you  please  ?  Where  have  you  dis 
covered  this  interdiction,  so  favorable  to  the  rebellion  ? 
What !  here  is  an  insurgent  town ;  we  can  blockade  it  by 
land  and  besiege  it  according  to  rule,  (I  do  not  suppose 
that  this  too  will  be  forbidden  us,)  and  we  cannot  block 
ade  it  by  sea?  To  do  this,  must  we  first  make  the 
amende  honorable,  declaring  that  the  rebellion  is  not  a 
rebellion,  and  that  our  insurgents  have  become  belliger 
ents? 

I  do  not  care  to  dwell  on  the  point.  Let  us  pass  on 
speedily  to  the  true  problem:  is  the  blockade, legitimate  in 
itself,  sustained  by  sufficient  force — is  it  effective  ?  Effect 
ive  !  This  is  a  word  which  is  in  every  one's  mouth,  but  of 
which  no  one  can  give  the  definition.  A  few  treaties  have 
determined  the  number  of  vessels  and  guns  which  must  be 
stationed  before  a  port  in  order  that  it  may  be  effectively 
blockaded  ;  but  this  minimum  figure  (which,  let  me  say  in 
passing,  has  been  constantly  exceeded  by  the  American 
cruisers)  has  not  been  reproduced  in  the  most  general 
conventions  which  establish  the  right  of  nations.  There 
is  here  again  an  important  matter  to  be  regulated,  as  in 
the  navigation  of  mail  packets — the  precise  determination 


66  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

of  despatches  which  are  contraband  of  war,  and  the  cir 
cumscriptions  beyond  which  neutrals  shall  not  be  visited. 
The  phrases,  effective  blockades  and  neutral  rights,  are 
so  many  words  behind  which  must  be  put  tangible,  pre 
cise  things  that  will  leave  no  more  room  for  controversy. 
It  remains  to  know  whether,  while  waiting  till  this  shall 
be  regulated,  we  are  at  liberty  to  settle  the  question 
which  meanwhile  arises  ;  whether  it  be  just  to  apply  re 
troactively  to  America  the  probable  decisions  of  a  future 
Congress. 

On  consulting  the  principal  treaties  and  comparing 
their  terms,  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  an  effective 
blockade  is  that  of  ports  which  there  is  evident  danger  in 
entering.  No  one  has  ever  dreamed  of  saying  that,  in 
order  to  be  effective,  the  blockade  must  render  the  en 
trance  impossible. 

The  expression  which  I  have  just  employed  is  pre 
cisely  that  which  we  read  in  the  famous  declaration  pub 
lished  in  1780,  by  Catherine  II.,  to  guarantee  the  right 
of  neutrals.  Article  4  is  couched  as  follows :  "  To  de 
termine  what  characterizes  a  blockaded  port,  this  denomi 
nation  shall  be  accorded  to  those  only  which,  through 
the  disposition  by  the  assailing  power  of  stationary  vessels, 
placed  sufficiently  near  each  other,  there  is  evident  danger 
in  entering." 

The  second  armed  neutrality  holds  the  same  language 
as  the  first.  I  cite  article  3  :  "  A  port  can  be  regarded 
as  blockaded  only  if  its  entrance  be  evidently  dangerous 
in  consequence  of  the  dispositions  made  by  one  of  the 
belligerent  powers,  by  means  of  vessels  placed  in  its  prox 
imity." 

Let  us  leap  over  that  long  interval  of  violence  when 
the  rights  of  neutrals  and  the  freedom  of  the  seas  were 
immolated  without  ceasing,  when  paper  blockades  were 


BLOCKADES.  67 

established,  when  England  declared  the  whole  coast  of 
the  Continent  blockaded,  while  the  decrees  of  Milan 
and  Turin  proclaimed  all  the  shores  of  the  British  Isles 
in  a  state  of  blockade ;  let  us  arrive  at  the  epoch  when 
true  principles  were  proclaimed  anew  by  France  and 
England.  What  do  we  find  in  the  concerted  instructions 
given  by  both  governments  to  their  navies  at  the  break 
ing  out  of  the  Crimean  war  ?  I  open  those  emanating 
from  M.  Duclos.  Article  7  reads :  "  Every  blockade  to 
be  respected  must  be  effective,  that  is,  maintained  by 
sufficient  force  that  there  may  be  imminent  danger  in 
penetrating  into  the  ports  invested." 

The  "  evident"  danger  has  become  "  imminent"  dan 
ger.  I  cannot  perceive  any  great  difference  between  the 
two  epithets.  At  the  same  moment,  moreover,  the  neu 
tral  powers  themselves  also  publish  instructions  in  which 
the  word  "  evident  "  again  appears.  Those  of  Sweden 
are  thus  expressed  :  "  By  a  blockaded  port,  is  understood 
one  so  far  closed  by  hostile  men-of-war,  sufficiently  near 
together,  that  no  one  can  enter  it  without  evident  dan 
ger." 

The  treaty  of  Paris,  concluded  at  the  end  of  the  war, 
contents  itself  with  a  vague  expression,  the  scope  of  which 
it  would  be  impossible  to  determine.  "Blockades,"  it 
s-ays,  "  to  be  obligatory,  must  be  effective  ;  that  is,  main 
tained  by  sufficient  force  really  to  forbid  the  enemy  access 
to  the  coast. "  As  force  sufficient  really  to  interdict  ac 
cess  to  the  coast  would  be  insufficient  to  stop  all  attempts 
without  exception,  it  always  becomes  necessary  to  return 
to  evident  or  imminent  danger ;  which  was  done  last  year 
by  M.  Rouher,  in  an  admirable  circular,  in  which  he 
asked  our  chambers  of  commerce  to  respect  the  Southern 
blockade.  "  An  effective  blockade,"  he  writes,  "  is  that 
of  places  which  cannot  be  approached  without  exposure 
to  evident  danger." 


68  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

The  most  credited  writers,  Kluber,  for  instance, 
(Droit  des  Gens  Moderne,  §  297,)  holds  exactly  the  same 
language.  It  will  be  difficult  to  go  beyond  these  gener 
alities,  so  long  as  the  number  of  vessels  shall  not  be  de 
termined  which  must  be  stationed  before  each  port. 
This  was  attempted  in  the  commercial  treaty  concluded 
in  1742,  by  France  and  Denmark;  its  Article  20  exacts 
that,  for  a  port  to  be  considered  blockaded,  its  entrance 
must  be  closed  by  at  least  two  vessels.  This  condition  is 
found  stated  again,  in  identical  terms,  in  the  treaty  of 
1818,  between  Denmark  arid  Prussia. 

Let  us  now  see  whether  the  United  States  have  con 
formed  to  the  rules  which  I  have  just  repeated.  What 
Southern  port  is  there  before  which  they  have  not  sta 
tioned  at  least  two  vessels  ?  These  vessels  are  stationary ; 
they  are  sufficiently  near  together ;  lastly,  there  is  every 
where  evident  or  imminent  danger  in  entering.  The  ac 
cess,  therefore,  is  really  intercepted,  at  least  in  the  meas 
ure  which  has  seemed  to  result  hitherto  from  national 
conventions. 

It  is  easy  to  exclaim  before  a  Lancashire  meeting, 
"  The  blockade  is  not  effective  !  "  ,  It  would  be  more  dif 
ficult,  perhaps,  to  demonstrate  it.  I  sigh  to  see  a  man  like 
Mr.  Massey  exciting  the  passions  of  his  voters  by  making 
these  poor  workmen  believe  that  between  them  and  the 
cotton  which  is  to  give  them  support,  there  is  only  an 
American  falsehood;  and  that  in  treading  this  falsehood 
under  foot,  and  opening  the  Southern  ports,  they  would 
not  be  committing  a  reprehensible  act,  but  exercising  a 
right,  and  even  rendering  a  service  to  the  United  States. 

The  blockade  does  not  cease  to  be  effective  solely  be 
cause  a  number  of  vessels  have  succeeded  in  running  it. 
The  American  cruisers  are  forced  to  contend  with  a  ter- 


BLOCKADES.  69 

rible  enemy — English  commerce.  Night  and  day,  in  the 
hundred  openings  of  a  coast  pierced  in  every  direction  by 
natural  inlets,  behind  innumerable  islands  formed  from 
the  alluvion  of  rivers,  lie  a  whole  army  of  small  craft, 
ready  to  profit  by  darkness  or  foul  weather.  Never  had 
cruisers  such  a  task  ;  and,  far  from  finding  cause  for  blame, 
there  may  be,  perhaps,  good  reason  to  praise  this  block 
ading  navy,  improvised  and  without  doubt  insufficient  in 
the  beginning,  but  which  has  become  inured  to  war,  in 
creased,  and  strengthened  in  every  respect,  and  which  to 
day  places  in  "  evident "  danger  all  that  seek  to  escape  it. 

If  the  special  formation  of  the  coast  (which  can  be 
seen  by  every  one  who  possesses  a  good  map  of  America) 
cannot  furnish  a  valid  excuse ;  if  it  belong  to  the  block 
ading  government  to  take  into  consideration  the  excep 
tional  difficulties  of  a  blockade,  it  is  certain,  at  all  events, 
that  the  accidents  of  the  sea,  which  render  the  surveil 
lance  powerless  at  times,  do  not  permit  us  to  conclude 
therefrom  the  inefficacy  of  the  blockade.  During  a  storm 
which  prevents  the  action  of  the  cruisers,  small  vessels  can 
easily  dart  through  the  narrow  passages  for  which  their 
draught  of  water  is  sufficient.  Sir  William  Scott,  whom 
the  English  do  not  challenge,  while  recognizing  that  the 
blockade  ceases  to  be  valid  when  not  constantly  main 
tained  by  a  proper  force,  admits  the  restriction  neverthe 
less  :  "  As  far  as  the  weather  will  permit." 

Let  us  add,  that  the  intervention  of  steam  has  modi 
fied  the  conditions  of  the  struggle,  and  tended  to  render 
the  action  of  the  cruisers  less  efficacious.  It  is  extremely 
difficult,  even  with  a  cruiser  of  considerable  size,  to  arrest 
the  sure  and  rapid  progress  of  a  vessel  hastening  forward 
under  full  steam  in  a  dark  night,  at  the  risk  of  two  or 
three  bullets  that  have  small  chance  of  reaching  her. 

O 

It  may  be  that,  during  the  past  year,  on  an  extent  of 


70  EUROPE  AND   THE  AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

coast  exceeding  three  thousand  miles,  a  considerable  num 
ber  of  vessels  have  succeeded  in  evading  the  blockade ; 
but  there  are  hundreds  also  that  have  been  captured. 
Much  fewer  have  escaped  than  have  not  escaped,  and  the 
blockading  squadron,  which  was  composed  at  first  of  fif 
teen  vessels,  is  to-day  not  far  from  numbering  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty. 

The  fact  is,  English  commerce  must  know  that  there 
is  evident  danger  in  running  the  blockade,  for  the  list  of 
its  vessels  seized  and  confiscated  is  not  small.  The  ports 
into  which  vessels  of  heavy  draught  can  enter  are  all 
sufficiently  guarded  ;  which  does  not  mean,  I  repeat,  that 
one  will  ever  be  sure  of  preventing  a  steamboat  like  the 
Bermuda  or  Nashville  from  piercing  the  line  of  cruisers. 

It  seems  to  me,  on  the  whole,  that  the  blockade  is  ef 
fective  enough  which  results  in  interrupting  communica 
tion  and  almost  entirely  suppressing  the  import  and  ex 
port  trade.  It  would  not  occasion  so  much  complaint  if 
it  were  not  effective.  Consult  those  interested ;  interro 
gate,  for  instance,  a  witness  beyond  suspicion,  the  New 
Orleans  Crescent.  I  quote  from,  a  number  of  last  Novem 
ber: 

"  We  hear  a  great  deal  said  about  what  is  called  run- 
ning  the  blockade.  Reports,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
they  are  nothing  but  reports,  pretend  that  five  hundred 
and  sixteen  vessels  have  run  the  blockade  since  the  16th 
of  May.  This  estimate  is  open  to  much  dispute,  even 
though  it  may  be  supported  by  official  documents  in  the 
ministerial  departments  at  Richmond.  The  blockade  was 
established  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  on  the  25th 
of  May,  when  forty  vessels  were  found  freighted  for 
foreign  ports,  and  were  allowed  to  depart.  The  block 
ade  was  commenced  almost  at  the  same  moment  at  Mo 
bile  and  Pensacola ;  vessels  were  at  liberty  to  quit  these 


BLOCKADES.  71 

ports  until  the  6th  of  June.  As  far  as  New  Orleans  is 
concerned,  the  last  arrivals  through  the  Balize  took  place 
the  29th  of  May.  There  have  been  a  few  arrivals  and 
departures  of  schooners  in  the  lower  inlets  of  the  gulf.  A 
small  number  of  coasting  vessels  have  run  the  blockade 
on  the  Carolina  coasts,  but  all  of  these  together  do 
not  amount  to  five  hundred  and  sixteen.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  steamer  South  Carolina  has  taken  seventy 
schooners  attempting  to  run  the  blockade  between  New 
Orleans  and  the  Texan  ports.  There  have  been  but  three 
or  four  European  vessels,  among  which  was  the  Bermuda, 
that  have  succeeded  in  running  the  blockade.  A  few 
West  India  vessels  have  also  reached  the  Carolina  coast. 
But  it  is  deceiving  the  European  governments  to  main 
tain  that  it  is  easy  to  escape  the  blockade,  when  not  a  ves 
sel  has  entered  the  harbor  of  New  Orleans  by  the  river  for 
the  last  five  months,  and  when  but  a  single  foreign  ship 
has  arrived  by  the  way  of  the  Lakes." 

Such  is  the  truth  taken  from  facts  in  a  moment  of 
frankness.  This  number  of  the  Crescent,  published  at  a 
time  when  the  blockade  was  far  from  being  as  complete 
as  it  has  since  become,  permits  us  to  estimate  at  their 
true  value,  those  lists  of  five  or  six  hundred  vessels  which 
have  made  so  much  noise  in  Europe.  We  know  now 
that  nine-tenths  of  them  are  mere  barks,  accustomed 
to  threading  the  inlets  of  the  coast.  We  know  that 
real  commerce  is  most  effectively  suppressed.  If  neces 
sary,  the  grass  growing  in  the  streets  of  New  Orleans  will 
testify  to  this.  No  more  vessels  in  the  harbor,  no  more 
bustle  on  the  piers,  no  more  business,  no  more  life ;  the 
descriptions  contained  in  the  very  journals  of  the  country 
put  us  in  a  position  to  admire  the  eiFects  produced  in 
America  by  "  the  paper  blockade." 

This  does  not  signify  that  the  United  States  Govern- 


72  EUROPE   AND   THE    AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

ment  should  not  take  all  necessary  measures  that  its 
cruisers  may  be  still  more  efficient,  and  that  the  spirit  of 
cavilling  may  find  nothing  in  them  to  blame.  But,  mean 
while,  we  will  do  well  to  measure  our  words  in  Europe. 
The  orators  who  gain  popularity  in  the  industrial  centres 
by  declaiming  against  the  blockade,  should  inform  them 
selves  beforehand  of  the  sufferings  caused  by  this  block 
ade  in  jest.  To  violate  it,  moreover,  would  be  to  declare 
war  against  the  United  States.  Now,  aside  from  the 
higher  considerations  which  may  be  pleaded  against  an  im 
pious  war,  this  war  would  have  the  bad  effect  of  reducing 
the  wages  of  operatives  far  below  the  rate  to  which  it  has 
now  fallen.  The  security  of  the  production  so  indispen 
sable  to  England,  depends  on  the  success  of  the  North. 
To  endanger  this  success  would  be  to  call  in  the  use  of 
revolutionary  measures,  which  would  be  to  ensure  the 
ruin  of  the  South  and  the  prolonged  distress  of  Lanca 
shire. 

The  United  States  thought  for  a  moment  of  joining 
to  the  blockade  a  measure  which,  in  their  opinion,  would 
have  finally  rendered  this  blockade  perfect  in  the  eyes  of 
foreign  powers — to  close  the  Southern  ports  by  an  act  of 
the  legislature.  I  am  rejoiced  that  they  did  not  perse 
vere  ;  we  have  already  subjects  enough  of  controversy, 
without  going  in  quest  of  another.  If,  on  one  side,  every 
nation  be  free  to  close  its  own  ports,  (and  the  Southern 
ports  belong  to  the  United  States,)  if  it  be  a  question  of 
municipal  regulation  to  determine  what  places  shall  serve 
as  ports  of  entry,  it  has  been  maintained,  on  the  other 
hand ,  that  this  right  ceases  to  exist  in  the  event  of  civil 
war.  The  legal  counsellors  of  the  crown,  when  consulted 
in  England  concerning  a  similar  act  of  the  government  of 
New  Granada,  replied  that  it  was  impossible  thus  to  close, 
by  a  single  act,  ports  which  were  de  facto  in  the  hands 


BLOCKADES.  73 

of  insurgents ;  in  which  case,  international  law  exacted 
that  there  should  be  an  efficient  blockade. 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  acted  wisely,  therefore,  in  taking  into 
account  the  objections  of  England,  and  leaving  the  bill 
authorizing  him  to  close  the  Southern  ports  to  slumber 
among  the  state  parchments. 

Another  idea  seemed  to  make  its  way :  in  the  lively 
desire  of  harmonizing  the  necessities  of  the  war  as  nearly 
as  possible  with  the  satisfaction  of  the  industrial  needs  of 
Europe,  America  might  have  substituted  for  the  block 
ade,  the  collection  of  duties  effected  on  board  her  crui 
sers  ;  in  this  manner,  cotton  could  have  gone  out  and 
European  merchandise  have  come  in.  This  project  proved 
abortive,  both  on  account  of  the  determination  of  the  in 
surgents,  who  would  not  export  their  cotton,  but  clung  to 
the  idea  of  subduing — such  was  the  word — the  hesitation 
of  Europe,  and  also  and  most  of  all  because,  in  organizing 
this  new  service,  (supposing  the  thing  practicable,)  it 
would  have  been  necessary  to  relinquish  the  powerful 
action  of  the  blockade  in  suppressing  the  rebellion. 

The  blockade  will  be  maintained,  therefore,  purely 
and  simply.  To  theoretical  objections,  the  United  States 
will  continue  to  reply  by  facts.  Doubtless,  the  enterprise 
is  gigantic,  and  we  might  have  doubted,  with  some  reason, 
at  the  first  moment,  that  it  could  be  conducted  in  good 
faith.  I  can  comprehend  the  surprise,  akin  to  incredulity, 
which  was  manifested  by  Lord  Lyons  in  May  when  Mr. 
Seward  made  the  bold  declaration,  "  The  government 
intends  to  blockade  the  whole  coast,  from  Chesapeake  Bay 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande."  Lord  Lyons  observed 
to  him  that  this  coast  measured  about  three  thousand 
miles  in  length,  and  that  the  United  States  would  not 
probably  have  sufficient  force  to  establish  an  efficient 
blockade  of  such  an  extent.  "  The  whole  coast  will  be 
4 


74  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

blockaded,  and  efficiently  blockaded,"  was  Mr.  Seward's 
reply.     He  has  kept  his  word. 

A  few  days  after,  the  same  question  was  debated  in 
the  Upper  House  ;  and  if  Lord  Derby,  always  hostile  to 
the  United  States,  hastened  to  maintain  the  impossibility 
of  an  effective  blockade  the  whole  length  of  the  South, 
Lord  Brougham  did  not  hesitate  to  support  the  contrary 
opinion.  "  It  is  not  necessary,"  said  he,  with  reason, 
"  that  the  blockade  should  be  established  in  such  a  man 
ner  that  ingress  or  egress  shall  be  actually  impossible." 

Do  what  we  may,  we  will  be  forced  to  persist  in  this. 
Wherever  the  ports  are  guarded  by  a  number  of  vessels, 
wherever  there  is  "  evident  danger,"  in  entering  or  going 
out,  the  efficiency  of  the  blockade  cannot  be  contested. 

Other  pretexts  have  been  also  sought.  The  obstruc 
tion  of  Charleston  harbor  has  just  furnished  an  admirable 
one ;  and  the  Morning  Post  has  not  delayed  to  denounce 
this  measure,  "  in  conformity  with  the  barbarous  policy 
of  a  government  which  fills  Europe  with  indignation." 

I  am  very  glad  that  there  is  still  indignation  among  us  ; 
those  who  see  no  cause  to  be  indignant  at  a  treason  plot 
ted  and  a  rebellion  proclaimed  in  the  name  of  slavery, 
those  who  forget  to  be  indignant  on  learning  that  the 
first  act  of  the  insurgent  people  of  Charleston  was  to  set 
at  liberty  the  captain  of  a  slaver,  will  be  at  least  indig 
nant  at  the  thought  of  the  vessels  laden  with  stone  which 
close  the  harbor  of  this  city.  A  city  which  has  so  far 
signalized  itself  by  its  passion  for  slavery  really  deserves 
better  than  any  other  to  excite  our  feelings  of  humanity. 

Let  me  be  understood  rightly  ;  neither  do  I  myself  ap 
prove  the  measure  employed  against  Charleston ;  but  as 
to  this  noisy  and  pharisaical  compassion,  as  to  these  tears 
at  command,  as  to  this  virtuous  indignation  which  has 


BLOCKADES.  75 

but  one  end — that  of  arriving  at  European  intervention 
and  the  recognition  of  the  South — I  take  the  liberty  of 
esteeming  them  for  what  they  are  worth  ;  I  reserve  my 
pity  for  other  woes,  which  may  be  found  without  seeking 
very  far,  within  the  very  walls  of  Charleston. 

An  act,  moreover,  may  give  cause  for  regret,  without 
opening  the  way  to  the  mediation  of  strangers.  It  is  piti 
able  to  see  what  arguments  are  used  as  a  basis  to  demon 
strate  that  Europe  is  right  in  opposing  its  veto,  and  employ 
ing  force  at  need.  Nature  creates  a  port,  and  man  steps  in 
to  suppress  its  use ;  he  suppresses  it  even  for  generations 
to  come  ;  he  deprives  vessels  in  distress  of  a  needful 
refuge :  this  is  contrary  to  international  relations ;  the 
preservation  of  commercial  ports,  like  the  free  navigation 
of  rivers,  interests  all  nations ;  therefore,  the  people  that 
takes  it  upon  itself  to  change  the  primitive  configuration 
of  a  coast  to  the  detriment  of  the  rest,  deserves  to  be 
punished  by  the  entire  world. 

There  is  but  one  misfortune  ;  this  new,  revised,  and 
considerably  corrected  edition  of  the  rights  of  nations,  has 
been  published  expressly  for  the  sake  of  America,  and,  I 
suspect,  for  its  exclusive  use.  We  heard  of  the  "  stone 
fleet  "  a  full  month  at  least  before  it  put  to  sea  ;  who  at 
that  time  experienced  this  lively  emotion?  There  was 
no  effort  to  display  it  until  the  Trent  affair  had  been 
arranged,  and  it  was  necessary  to  seek  elsewhere  for  a 
means  of  intervention.  Great  crimes  do  not  permit  the 
human  conscience  thus  to  waver.  Now,  with  the  excep 
tion  of  the  English  cabinet,  which  took  its  precautions, 
and  presented  its  observations  to  Mr.  Seward,  not  a  per 
son,  in  Europe,  not  even  a  single  editor  of  the  Morning 
Post,  exclaimed  against  this  scandalous  proceeding,  this 
criminal  attempt,  this  violation  of  the  rights  of  humanity. 
If  we  had  been  seeking  a  quarrel  with  the  United  States, 


76  EUROPE    AND   THE    AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

we  would  not  have  acted  differently.  It  would  indeed 
have  been  a  shorter,  and,  above  all,  a  franker  way,  to 
have  declared  once  for  all  that  it  is  their  pretension  to 
bring  back  the  South  into  the  Union  which  constitutes 
the  violation  of  international  law.  Its  barriers  close  the 
harbors  !  Yes,  but  bombardments  destroy  them ;  will 
we  also  argue  the  illegality  of  bombardments  ?  It  would 
be  somewhat  difficult,  provided  we  still  held  our  own 
wars  in  remembrance. 

War,  alas !  is  always  more  or  less  destructive  to  the 
works  of  God,  and  dangerous  to  the  use  of  the  good 
things  which  He  has  placed  at  our  disposal.  It  is  easy  for 
one  to  reason  thereupon  with  his  feet  on  the  fender  ;  it  is 
somewhat  less  easy,  perhaps,  when  he  feels  himself  strug 
gling  with  that  double  peril — a  formidable  insurrection, 
and  a  continually  threatened  foreign  intervention.  At 
such  a  time,  between  the  ruin  of  a  city  and  the  ruin  of  a 
nation,  one  may  choose  the  first  without  therefore  being 
barbarous. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  maintain  that  the  somewhat  un 
friendly  policy  of  Europe  has  been  the  sole  cause  of  the 
measure  taken  against  Charleston  ;  I  affirm,  notwithstand 
ing,  that  if  America  had  had  a  greater  feeling  of  security,  if 
she  had  not  trembled  for  her  blockade,  if  she  had  not  seen 
herself  under  the  formidable  obligation  of  triumphing  in 
some  sort  within  a  given  time,  she  would  not  have  sent 
stone  ships  to  the  South.  Let  those  who  judge  her 
place  themselves  for  a  moment  in  her  place.  No  one 
destroys  his  own  cities  for  mere  pleasure. 

But,  it  is  exclaimed,  the  question  concerns  a  commer 
cial  city  and  not  a  fortified  town  ;  fortified  towns  alone 
can  be  bombarded  and  destroyed  !  This  distinction — 
who  would  believe  it  ? — has  been  borrowed  by  the  Eng 
lish  journals  from  the  celebrated  Berlin  decree.  Eager 


BLOCKADES.  77 

to  discover  grievances  against  England,  the  Emperor  ac 
cused  it  of  extending  to  unfortified  commercial  harbors 
"the  right  of  blockade  which,  in  accordance  with  reason 
and  the  usages  of  polished  peoples,  is  applicable  only  to 
fortified  places." 

This  distinction  has  been  long  rejected  by  all  authors, 
the  French  with  the  iv^t.  War  may  render  the  blockade 
of  a  commercial  harbor  as  indispensable  as  that  of  a  har 
bor  of  men-of-war ;  and  not  only  its  blockade,  but  its 
siege.  Xo  means  of  attack  is  excluded. 

If  when,  at  the  time  of  the  Crimean  campaign,  the  allies 
bombarded  Sevastopol  and  spared  Odessa,  they  did  per 
fectly  right,  not  because  Odessa  Avas  a  commercial  harbor, 
but  because  the  destruction  of  Odessa  was  not  of  the 
least  importance  to  the  success  of  their  operations.  Was 
the  destruction  of  Charleston  harbor  essential  to  the  mili 
tary  success  of  the  operations  of  the  United  States?  I 
will  not  decide  the  question,  disposed  though  I  should 
be  to  determine  it  against  them  ;  I  say  that  the  question 
concerns  them  alone.  Having  the  right  to  decide,  they 
have  the  right  to  act.  I  was  astounded,  I  acknowledge, 
to  see  the  note  presented  by  Lord  Lyons  regard  the 
obstruction  of  Charleston  harbor  as  a  proof  of  the  dis 
couragement  of  the  United  States  ;  they  despaired  of  re 
establishing  the  L^nion,  otherwise  they  would  have  never 
thought  of  destroying  a  city  which  rightfully  belonged  to 
them. 

When  they  fire  upon  a  Southern  fortress,  they  are 
destroying  a  fortress  which  rightfully  belongs  to  them. 
When  they  attack  a  Southern  privateer,  they  are  endeav 
oring  to  sink  a  vessel  which  rightfully  belongs  to  them. 
The  first  and  inevitable  condition  of  war  is  the  unceasing 
destruction  by  the  national  government  of  things  that 
rightfully  belong  to  it.  "  Since  you  make  war  on  the 


78  EUROPE   AND   THE    AMERICAN   CRISIS. 

South,  since  you  injure  the  South,  it  is  a  proof  that  you 
despair  of  reducing  the  South  and  reestablishing  the 
Union."  Such  would  be  the  natural  conclusion  of  the 
English  note. 

I  hope  that  in  writing  this  note,  despite  the  ill  feeling 
which  prevailed  at  that  time,  there  was  no  design  of  mak 
ing  it  mean  all  this  ;  I  hope  that  it  was  dictated  chiefly  by 
the  desire  of  giving  friendly  counsel  to  the  Americans, 
and  persuading  them  from  objectionable  measures;  I 
hope  it,  because  I  read  at  the  bottom  the  name  of  Lord 
Russell.  The  truly  liberal  statesman  who  signed  this 
document  was  the  same  who  has  just  recognized  officially 
the  regularity  of  the  blockade.  He  certainly  is  not 
among  those  who  have  espoused  the  cause  of  the  South, 
and  are  watching  for  an  occasion  to  intervene  in  order  to 
secure  its  independence. 

We  see  that,  even  though  a  real  obstruction  were  in 
question,  it  would  fall  within  the  rights  of  war,  and  that 
Charleston,  a  peaceful  commercial  harbor  (with  its  two 
fortresses,  its  population  in  arms,  and  its  batteries  pointed 
a  year  ago  at  the  Federal  flag) — that  Charleston  would 
have  only  been  subjected  to  the  existing  laws  of  warfare, 
which  permit  bombardments  and  the  closing  of  harbors. 
But  the  real  obstruction  of  its  port  has  been  neither  ef 
fected  nor  attempted  ;  the  National  navy  has  only  sought 
to  close  a  few  of  the  channels  which  connect  its  harbor 
with  the  ocean.  In  fact,  since  the  sinking  of  the  stone 
ships,  vessels  have  succeeded  in  entering  and  going  out 
of  the  harbor.  If  it  has  been  entered,  there  is  an  en 
trance,  and  the  partisans  of  the  South  will  do  well  to  set 
about  seeking  some  other  pretext  of  complaint.  Mr. 
Seward  has  taken  the  liberty  of  making  the  same  remark 


BLOCKADES.  79 

to  Lord  Lyons,*  in  terms  which,  though  strictly  diplomat 
ic,  arc  none  the  less  clear  and  pointed. 

I  pause  at  this  unhappy  quarrel,  precisely  because  it 
seems  ended,  and  because  it  offers  us  a  most  instructive 
subject  of  study.  If  we  had  taken  the  trouble  to  read 
the  New  York  journals,  we  should  have  spared  ourselves 
so  vexatious  a  misunderstanding.  As  early  as  November, 
these  journals,  in  announcing  the  departure  of  the  stone 
fleet,  declared  in  explicit  terms' that  it  was  not  designed 
to  obstruct  channels  of  use  to  commerce.  The  harbor, 
they  said,  will  remain  open,  and  after  the  rebellion  has 
been  suppressed,  all  nations  can  visit  it  as  before. 

The  English  journals,  which,  for  a  moment,  flung  them 
selves  with  so  much  eagerness  on  this  subject  of  quarrel, 
and  which,  in  default  of  a  bettor,  endeavored  to  discover 
in  the  obstruction  a  m^m*  1><1H,  not  only  forgot  to  gain 
some  information  about  it  before  complaining,  but  never 
gave  a  thought  to  the  numerous  examples  which,  in  case 
of  need,  might  have  justified  the  extreme  measures  which 
the  United  States  <r,<I  not  t<ik<\ 

And  here  I  do  not  mean  to  speak  of  the  Russians 
burning  Moscow  (their  own  city),  or  obstructing  the  pass 
of  Sevastopol  (their  own  city)  in  order  to  repulse  the 
enemy  from  a  territory  which  they  certainly  did  not  re 
nounce  on  this  account  ;  neither  do  I  mean  to  speak  of  the 
advice  °;iven  by  these  same  journals,  so  compassionate  to 
day,  who  wished  to  destroy  Delhi  "so  that  one  stone 
should  not  be  left  upon  another,"  which  would  seem  to 

*  He  adds  that  the  obstructions  will  be  removed  after  the  submission 
of  the  South.  On  the  demand  of  England,  a  vessel  which  had  been  sunk 
in  the  harbor  of  Savannah,  was  raised  in  1-S1.~>  by  the  Americans,  after 
peace  had  been  signed  at  Ghent.  The  English  Admiral  Sartorius  himself 
acknowledges,  in  a  letter  published  in  the  London  papers,  that  the  ob 
struction  of  harbors  is  among  the  rights  of  war,  and  that  this  obstruction 
may  be  removed  on  making  peace. 


80  EUROPE    AND   THE    AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

indicate,  according  to  the  reasoning  of  Lord  Russell,  that 
they  despaired  of  India,  and  had  no  longer  any  thought  of 
preserving  it !  No  ;  I  will  simply  recall  the  acts  of  war 
and  plans  of  operations  which  history  has  mentioned  hith 
erto  without  the  least  indignation.  Anvers,  a  commer 
cial  harbor,  and  more  important,  I  think,  than  Charleston, 
wras  destroyed  by  the  closure  of  its  channels.  The  pro 
ject  of  filling  in  the  entrance  to  the  harbor  of  Boulogne 
wrill  be  doubtless  found  on  the  minutes  of  the  Admiralty, 
and  that  this  was  not  pursued  was  by  no  means  on  ac 
count  of  scruples  founded  on  the  fact  that  Boulogne  was 
not  a  fortified  town. 

It  has  been  said  again  and  again  that  none  but  Yan 
kees  could  be  capable  of  conceiving  the  abominable  idea 
of  sinking  ships  in  the  entrance  to  a  harbor ;  but  Lord 
Dundonald  was  not  a  Yankee,  yet  notwithstanding,  a  let 
ter,  written  by  him  on  board  the  Imperious,  April  3,  1809 
— a  letter  of  which  he  is  by  no  means  ashamed,  since  he 
quotes  it  literally  in  his  memoirs,  contains  the  following 
passage:  "Vessels  laden  with  stone  would  forever  destroy 
the  anchorage  of  Aix ;  and  a  few  old  ships  of  the  line, 
deeply  laden,  would  be  excellent  for  the  purpose." 

This  was  addressed  to  Lord  Mulgrave,  the  first  lord 
of  the  Admiralty,  who  forgot  to  address  to  his  corre 
spondent  "  remonstrances"  similar  to  those  which  Lord 
Lyons  addressed  to  Mr.  Seward.  But  here  is  what  is 
still  better — the  South  Carolinians  themselves,  in  Janu 
ary,  1861,  wishing  to  deprive  the  United  States  of  the 
means  of  revictualling  the  Federal  forts  situated  on  the 
waters  of  Charleston,  sunk  five  schooners  in  the  principal 
channel  of  their  harbor.  The  rebels  of  Georgia,  on  their 
side,  have  endeavored  to  render  Savannah  inaccessible  by 
water ;  and  have  obstructed  the  channel  by  old  vessels.* 

*  They  have  just  extinguished  nearly  all  the  lights  on  the  Southern 


BLOCKADES.  8 1 

These  acts  of  the  South  were  recounted  at  the  time, 
and  Europe  was  not  moved  by  them — it  is  true  that  it 
was  the  South  !  As  to  the  North,  let  it  beware  !  Its 
movements  are  watched  ;  its  conduct  must  be  irreproach 
able  ;  we  shall  excuse  nothing. 

I  am  of  those,  I  repeat,  who  would  have  preferred 
that  no  ships  should  have  been  sunk ;  but  between  a  re 
gret  and  a  grievance,  the  distance  is  great.  Alas!  it  is 
but  too  true  that  by  heaping  up  unsound  grievances,  we 
end  by  exciting  hostile  passions.  To-day,  we  denounce 
"  the  barbarity  "  of  the  Federal  Government,  which  closes 
harbors,  changes  the  configuration  of  coasts,  and  forever 
destroys  the  advantages  which  God  had  assured  to  com 
merce.  To-morrow,  we  will  complain  of  "  the  sufferings 
inflicted  on  manufacturers  by  a  pitiless  blockade,"  as  if 
the  Federal  Government  itself  did  not  take  care  to  open 
harbors  by  the  side  of  those  which  it  had  closed,  Beaufort 
by  the  side  of  Charleston  ;  and  as  if  it  depended  on  the 
North  to  force  the  South  into  no  longer  systematically 
holding  back  its  cotton  in  order  to  conquer  the  lingering 
repugnance  of  Europe.  The  other  day,  on  the  contrary, 
we  cried  out  against  the  "  paper  blockade,"  and  deplored 
the  lists  of  six  or  seven  hundred  vessels  which  had  es 
caped  the  cruisers,  confounding  time  as  well  as  ton 
nage  ;  we  did  not  say  that  the  greater  part  of  these  ves 
sels  had  run  the  blockade  while  it  was  still  incomplete, 
neither  did  we  say  that  most  of  them  were  mere  barks, 
and  that  large  vessels,  with  the  exception  of  steamers, 
encountered,  in  entering  Southern  harbors,  the  "  evident 
peril "  which  constitutes  effective  blockades. 

coasts,  numbering  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven.  This  is  rather  more 
troublesome  to  navigation  than  the  obstruction  of  one  or  two  passes  at 
Charleston. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

CONCLUSION    OF   THE   FIEST  PART. 

I  SHOULD  be  wanting  in  frankness  were  I  to  conclude 
this  first  part  without  briefly  expressing  the  thought  that 
has  weighed  on  me  while  writing.  In  studying  what  the 
attitude  of  Europe  has  been  for  nearly  a  year,  I  have 
been  forced  more  than  once  to  ask  myself  what  it  may 
become. 

Yes,  Europe,  under  certain  given  circumstances,  may 
resume  her  policy  and  carry  it  through  to  the  end,  instead 
of  stopping  half  way ;  a  decisive  resolution  may  be  taken ; 
some  disaster  to  the  North  may  give  the  signal  for  ex 
treme  resolutions ;  some  unforeseen  incident  may  furnish 
the  pretext  which  was  vainly  demanded  for  a  moment 
from  the  blockade  or  the  obstruction  of  Charleston  har 
bor  ;  the  distress  of  the  manufacturing  districts  may  in 
crease  to  such  a  degree  as  to  force  the  powers,  as  it  were, 
to  action ;  the  first  blast,  the  precursor  of  a  storm,  which 
came  to  us  the  other  day  from  Saiford,  and  which  was 
afterward  appeased,  may  be  followed  by  a  fearful  tempest ; 
the  debates  in  Parliament  may  bring  forth  later  manifes 
tations  of  a  nature  to  precipitate  events. 

All  this  is  possible,  possible,  though  far  from  probable, 
to  my  mind.     Already,  I  admit,  leading  men  have  taken 


CONCLUSION   OF   THE   FIKST   PART.  83 

sides  in  favor  of  intervention,  arid  have  signalled  out  the 
"paper  blockade"  to  the  indignation  of  the  working 
classes.  The  idea  of  "  opening  a  road  for  cotton"  has 
been  recommended  to  those  who  live  by  cotton,  and  who 
have  hitherto  so  honorably  withheld  these  scruples  which 
have  just  been  so  lavishly  displayed.  They  were  afraid 
of  becoming  allies  of  slavery — but  slavery  is  not  in  ques 
tion  !  They  were  afraid  of  violating  the  rights  of  the 
United  States — but  the  United  States  have  no  rights,  and 
their  blockade  is  not  a  blockade  !  They  were  afraid  of 
kindling  war — but  there  will  be  war  only  to  secure  peace  ! 

Thus  the  cause  of  the  South — who  would  have  believ 
ed  it  ? — may  become  almost  popular.  Did  not  journals 
important  through  their  ministerial  relations,  the  Observer 
and  the  Morning  Post,  issue  to  the  people,  before  the 
recent  awakening  of  public  opinion,  news  designed  to 
maintain  the  chances  and  the  hopes  of  the  South  ?  They 
announced  from  time  to  time  that  European  mediation 
was  resolved  upon,  and  was  about  to  be  imposed  on  the 
people  of  the  United  States. 

That  this  was  a  falsehood,  I  know.  The  Emperor,  on 
opening  the  Assembly,  has  declared  formally  in  the  name 
of  France,  that  so  long  as  the  rights  of  neutrals  are  re 
spected,  we  will  not  meddle  with  the  quarrels  of  the 
United  States.  The  Queen's  address  and  the  speeches  of 
the  ministers  have  announced  the  maintenance  of  a  neu 
tral  policy.  Notwithstanding,  there  exists  a  current  of 
opinions,  or  rather  interests,  which  still  threatens  to  draw 
in  Europe  some  day,  if  we  do  not  succeed  in  mastering 
its  power. 

That  we  will  master  it,  I  have  confidence ;  but  it  is 
necessary  for  this  that  we  all  do  our  best ;  it  is  necessary 
for  this  that,  without  hesitation,  without  miserable  calcu 
lations  of  prudence,  we  expose  the  worthlessness  of  false 


84  EUROPE   AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

theories  and  erroneous  assertions.  Never  was  more  im 
portant  mission  confided  to  men  of  heart.  Already,  the 
glorious  reaction  which  is  appearing  in  England,  has 
come  to  prove  that  we  are  not  mistaken  in  defending 
principles  and  counting  upon  them. 

Let  us  give  our  attention  to  principles,  nor  be  anxious 
about  events.  Be  events  what  they  may,  they  will  work 
no  change  in  principles.  If  Europe  should  ever  throw 
her  sword  into  the  balance  and  recognize  the  South,  the 
act  will  become  none  the  better  by  reason  of  its  accom 
plishment.  We  will  not  have,  therefore,  in  any  case,  to 
repent  of  our  resistance. 

To  recognize  the  South  !  I  cannot  comprehend  how 
such  a  measure  can  be  recommended,  even  in  the  point 
of  view  of  material  interests.  When  the  conflict  shall  have 
been  thus  exasperated,  when  war  to  the  death  shall  have 
commenced,  when  revolutionary  measures  shall  have  been 
employed,  nothing  will  be  left  but  to  bow  the  head  and 
yield  to  ruin. 

I  hope  that  we  may  succeed  in  avoiding  this  extremity ; 
nevertheless,  the  fact  remains  that  the  right  will  have 
been  violated,  and  that  violated  right  is  always  avenged. 
On  the  day  when  Europe  shall  say  to  America,  "  I  inter 
vene,  because  it  is  of  importance  that  my  commerce  be 
reestablished,  because  I  cannot  indefinitely  endure  your 
dissensions,  because  the  delay  fixed  by  me  has  expired  ; " 
on  that  day,  an  act  of  injustice  will  have  been  done.  No 
one  is  ignorant  of  the  condition  of  regular  recognition. 
We  recognize  governments  de  facto,  who  have  secured 
their  independence.  Even  when  the  destruction  of  an 
enemy  has  been  in  question,  France  has  never  consented 
to  proclaim  a  premature  recognition.  Without  going 
out  of  America,  as  I  have  already  said,  we  find  a  decisive 
proof  of  this.  The  insurrection  of  the  English  colonies 


CONCLUSION    OF    THE    FIRST   PART.  85 

took  place  in  1773 ;  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was  won  in 
1775  ;  1777  saw  the  victory  at  Saratoga  and  the  surren 
der  of  Burgoyne ;  yet,  notwithstanding,  the  French  gov 
ernment  waited  till  the  following  year  to  recognize  the 
United  States.  Six  years  of  war  and  of  decisive  advan 
tages,  with  the  acquired  certainty  that  the  independence 
could  be  no  longer  seriously  menaced,  were  necessary  at 
that  time  to  legitimatize  recognition.  Why  is  less  neces 
sary  to-day  ?  Why  would  our  century,  so  justly  in  favor 
of  non-intervention,  admit  this  form  of  intervention  in  a 
struggle  which  is  not  ended  ? 

We  have  been  told  again  and  again  that  we  can  rec 
ognize  the  South,  and  yet  remain  neutral !  As  we  could 
not  recognize  it  to-day  and  suffer  it  to  be  invaded  to-mor 
row,  it  is  certain  that  the  recognition  would  lead  to  an 
armed  intervention.  This  would  be,  therefore,  a  rupture 
with  the  United  States.  That  it  might  not  be  followed 
by  immediate  war,  I  willingly  admit,  for  the  Union  would 
doubtless  give  way  before  a  hopeless  struggle.  But  what 
a  peace  would  this  be  !  What  a  fund  of  hatred  reserved 
for  the  future!  And  what  a  crisis  for  our  manufactures! 

I  doubt  whether  France  will  then  congratulate  herself 
for  having  destroyed  her  work  of  the  last  century,  and 
whether  England  will  be  greatly  proud  of  having  struck 
hands  with  the  champions  of  slavery. 

This  is  the  chance  which  I  have  been  obliged  to  force 
myself  to  look  in  the  lace.  T  have  pointed  it  out;  I  will 
not  wrong  Europe  by  dwelling  on  it.  A  word  only,  ad 
dressed  to  the  Americans. 

They  know  now  on  what  to  rely.  It  is  generally  be 
lieved  among  us  that  they  are  not  making  war  in  earnest, 
that  they  will  end  by  drowning  themselves  in  preparations, 
that  their  expense  of  two  million  dollars  a  day  will  ex- 


86  EUROPE    AND   THE   AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

haust  their  last  remaining  resources,  that  their  war  will 
soon  be  brought  to  an  end  by  the  force  of  circumstances. 

It  is  for  them  to  demonstrate  by  facts  that  these  are 
so  many  calumnies.  Their  armies  are  ready,  their  fleets 
are  built,  the  season  favorable  to  operations  in  the  South 
has  arrived ;  the  question  is  to  go  forward  with  energy, 
and  inaugurate  an  era  of  brilliant  successes.  At  the 
price  which  their  war  is  unfortunately  costing  them,  it  is 
necessary  that  it  be  short,  under  pain  of  becoming  im 
possible.  Their  paper  currency  disquiets  their  best  friends. 

They  have  a  few  months  of  real  security  before  them 
— a  few  months,  no  more.  Let  there  be  no  illusion  on 
this  point !  If,  in  a  few  months,  the  superiority  of  the 
North  be  not  established,  if  the  issue  of  the  conflict  re 
main  in  the  least  doubtful,  seditious  interests  will  perhaps 
intervene  in  favor  of  the  South. 

To  act  to-day,  therefore,  to  act  quickly,  to  act  ener 
getically — such  is  the  first  article  of  their  programme. 

And  this  is  now  the  second  : 

In  case  that,  contrary  to  all  appearances,  the  campaign 
which  is  about  to  open  should  not  result  in  the  brilliant 
triumph  of  the  North  ;  in  case  that,  contrary  once  more 
to  all  appearances,  the  decisive  successes  of  the  North 
and  the  measures  taken  by  it  for  the  progressive  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  conquered  South  should  not  bring  forth 
the  manifestation  of  the  Union  sentiments  now  sup 
pressed,  it  would  then  be  necessary  to  take  one  of  those 
difficult  resolutions  which  a  great  people  should  know 
how  to  adopt  at  need.  To  take  necessities  into  account, 
to  see  things  as  they  are,  to  be  resigned  to  what  cannot 
be  helped,  is  also  to  serve  one's  country. 

He  who  is  resigned  too  soon,  is  cowardly  ;  he  who  is 
resigned  too  late,  is  in  danger  of  entering  into  conflict 
with  the  very  designs  of  God.  Perhaps  God  has  willed 


CONCLUSION    OF   THE   FIRST   PART.  87 

precisely  the  course  that  grieves  us  most ;  perhaps,  ac 
cording  to  his  sovereign  plans,  emancipation  must  be 
wrought  by  separation  ;  perhaps  the  South  must  be  chas 
tised  by  its  victory ;  perhaps  the  uprising  must  be  accom 
plished  through  great  sorrows. 

If  this  should  be  unhappily  true,  it  would  be  wisdom 
to  recognize  and  become  openly  resigned  to  it.  After  an 
unfortunate  or  inefficient  campaign,  when  the  mediation 
of  Europe  should  be  offered,  (and  it  would  be  in  this  case, 
without  doubt,)  when  the  question  should  be  to  order 
new  Treasury  bonds,  to  brave  ruin,  to  hasten  to  bank 
ruptcy,  to  defy  the  great  allied  powers,  to  undertake  a 
new  war,  a  colossal  war,  a  hopeless  war,  good  citizens 
would  be  those  who  should  counsel  peace. 

It  costs  me  an  effort  to  write  this ;  but  I  should  fail 
in  my  duty  if  I  did  not  say  all  that  I  think.  I  love 
America  too  well  not  to  prefer  the  danger  of  displeasing 
to  that  of  disserving  it.  I  hope  for  its  success ;  I  count 
on  it ;  for  I  know  that  it  is  fighting  for  justice,  and  there 
is  victory  in  the  word.  It  may  be,  however,  that  we  are 
mistaken ;  the  victories  which  God  has  in  store  for  the 
North  may  be  of  a  nature  which  we  have  not  foreseen ; 
they  will  consist,  perhaps,  in  the  first  place,  of  completing 
the  work  of  emancipating  the  slaves  and  rehabilitating 
the  free  negroes  within  its  own  borders  ;  then  in  effecting 
the  same  work,  by  its  example,  in  the  States  which  have 
seceded  from  it ;  then,  it  may  be,  in  bringing  them  back 
some  day,  when  isolation  shall  have  borne  its  bitter 
fruits,  and  when  the  great  cause  of  discord  shall  have  dis 
appeared. 

However  this  may  be,  if  we  have  the  unexpected  pain 
of  witnessing  the  unsuccessfulness  of  the  Federal  arms 
and  the  combined  mediation  of  the  European  powers,  we 
will  offer  up  ardent  prayers  that  the  United  States  may 


88  EUROPE   AND   THE    AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

resolutely  accept  all  the  consequences  of  such  a  position. 
There  is  no  glory  to  be  lost,  but  a  great  deal  to  be 
gained  in  simply  accepting  what  cannot  be  prevented. 

We  must  foresee  every  thing,  even  what  is  improb 
able.  It  would  be  no  trifling  thing,  moreover,  to  reduce 
the  army  and  expenditures,  to  bring  back  the  former 
prosperity,  to  recall  European  immigration,  to  withdraw 
the  paper  currency,  to  pay  debts,  to  reestablish  liberties 
a  moment  suspended,  to  strengthen  institutions.  The 
present  war  has  its  perils  ;  all  the  friends  of  America  are 
troubled  at  seeing  it  forced  to  repudiate  for  a  time  some 
of  its  glorious  traditions ;  its  six  hundred  thousand  sol 
diers  please  them  but  little,  any  more  than  their  expen 
diture  of  two  or  three  millions  per  day.  They  cannot 
help  fearing  that,  the  war  ended,  the  free  America  of 
former  times  will  not  again  be  found.  If  any  thing  could 
console  them  for  a  peace  favorable  to  the  independence 
of  the  South,  it  would  be  the  thought  that  this  would 
also  seal  the  independence  of  the  North.  Delivered  at 
length  from  the  yoke  which  had  weighed  on  its  institu 
tions  and  policy,  it  would  recover  the  liberty  of  becoming 
again  itself.  The  difficulties  of  a  partial  separation — dif 
ficulties,  doubtless,  most  real,  and  which  the  makers  of 
projects  do  not  take  sufficiently  into  account,  are  not  to 
be  compared,  considerable  as  they  may  be,  with  the  dif 
ficulties  of  another  nature  which  the  least  plan  of  con 
quest  and  armed  occupation  would  involve  in  its  train. 

To  tell  the  truth,  the  North  would  be  itself  for  the 
first  time,  for  hitherto  the  baleful  influences  of  the  South 
have  corrupted  every  thing.  The  South,  with  its  slavery, 
with  its  unsound  and  illiberal  democracy,  with  its  spirit 
of  conquest  and  strife,  with  its  contempt  for  the  right  of 
nations,  with  its  hatred  of  Europe,  with  its  break-neck 
policy,  with  its  repudiations  of  debts,  with  its  laws  for 


CONCLUSION    OF    THE    FIJBST   PAET.  89 

fugitive  slaves,  with  its  pretensions  and  violence,  unceas 
ingly  lowered  the  moral  and  social  level  of  the  United 
States.  Every  tiling  was  going,  beginning  with  self- 
respect.  A  few  years  more  of  this  rude  prosperity,  and 
all  would  have  been  over  with  the  United  States. 

Now,  the  United  States  have  reappeared.  Whether 
they  triumph  over  the  rebellion,  as  I  count  upon  their 
doing,  or  are  forced  to  accept  manfully  the  consequences 
of  a  reverse  and  European  mediation,  they  are  about  to 
know  the  greatness  of  liberty  and  justice,  while  awaiting 
what  the  future  has  in  store  for  them. 


ENGLAND. 
PART     SECOND. 


CHAPTER    I. 

TWO     NATIONS     IN     ENGLAND. 

OUR  work  would  be  of  no  value,  if,  confining  ourselves 
to  estimating  the  general  attitude  of  Europe,  we  neglected 
to  study  more  closely  the  conduct  of  Englishmen.  It  is 
among  them  that  the  true,  the  vital,  and  practical  ques 
tions  are  propounded  ;  it  is  among  them  that  we  are  to 
seek  their  solutions.  With  respect  to  the  United  States 
and  the  crisis  through  which  they  are  passing,  England 
has  the  chief  authority. 

This  is  not  due  only  to  the  ties  of  blood  which  unite 
her  to  America,  to  the  importance  of  her  commercial  re-, 
lations  with  it,  to  the  solidarity  established  between  her 
manufactures  and  American  cotton,  of  which  she  alone 
absorbs  two-thirds;  a  nobler  motive  imposes  on  her  a 
special  responsibility — as  slavery  is  in  question,  all  Europe 
has  instinctively  recognized  the  competence  of  the  nation 
which  has  been  honored  by  its  great  act  of  emancipation. 


TWO    NATIONS    IN    liNGLANJJ.  <Jl 

Xowhere  else,  moreover,  not  even  in  France,  as  we 
must  modestly  acknowledge,  could  the  events  in  America 
alarm  so  many  interests,  and  nowhere  else,  it  seems  to 
me,  should  they  attract  so  many  sympathies.  The  Eng 
lish  opposition  to  the  cause  of  the  Xorth  would  naturally 
be  violent ;  the  English  adhesion  to  the  cause  of  the 
North  would  naturally  be  enthusiastic. 

If  the  first  of  these  previsions  alone  has  been  realized 
during  many  months,  this  proceeds  from  causes  which  it  is 
important  to  examine  with  care  in  order  to  find  a  remedy. 
Whatever  may  be  done,  indeed,  it  is  probable  that  the 
chief  initiative  in  all  that  concerns  the  United  States  will 
continue  to  belong  to  England.  Eaithfulto  an  alliance,  the 
maintenance  of  which  is  of  importance  to  the  whole  world, 
France,  without  abdicating  her  free  will,  will  nevertheless 
as  far  as  possible  avoid  separating  her  action  from  that  of 
England.  I  have  no  hesitation,  therefore,  in  turning  to 
the  latter,  and  calling  her  to  account  for  an  attitude  which 
has  disappointed  so  many  hopes.  Why  lias  England  been 
so  cold  ?  Why  has  England  had  so  long  for  Mr.  Lincoln's 
government  neither  encouragement  nor  equity? 

England,  I  am  happy  to  say,  is  beginning  to  question 
herself  upon  this  point;  the  land  of Wilberforce  is  awa 
kening  and  becoming  itself  again.  Would  that,  in  recall 
ing  what  it  has  done  or  suffered  to  be  done  during  the 
past  year,  I  might  second  its  generous  return  to  good ! 

A  first  reflection  strikes  me — the  same  which  presented 
itself  when  I  examined  the  attitude  of  Europe,  the  same 
which  lias  besieged  me  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  this 
work — how  much  evil  might  have  been  avoided  by  simply 
maintaining  the  action  ot  principles !  And  here  I  do  not 
speak  only  of  the  sympathy  due  to  those  who  have  risen 
to  prevent,  by  means  of  great  personal  sacrifices,  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery ;  I  speak  also  of  the  respect  due  to  the 


92  ENGLAND. 

right.  Suppose  for  a  moment  that  England,  without 
even  giving  way  to  her  abolition  sympathies,  had  taken 
the  side  of  the  right,  her  conduct  would  have  no  longer 
encountered  either  difficulties  or  embarrassments. — Here 
is  justice  and  there  injustice  ;  here  is  a  president  regular 
ly  elected,  and  there  are  men  in  insurrection  against  the 
free  constitution  of  their  country,  their  flag,  and  their 
oaths;  well,  we  are  on  the  side  of  justice,  which  is  also 
that  of  liberty.  Without  intervening,  without  meddling 
with  that  which  does  not  concern  us,  we  will  maintain  our 
natural  relations  with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States ;  and  as  to  the  Southerners,  we  owe  them  nothing, 
we  are  determined  to  see  in  them  only  what  they  are, 
rebels  against  the  law,  rebels  in  favor  of  slavery. 

It  has  been  a  source  of  pleasure  to  me,  in  pursuing 
this  work,  to  discover  everywhere  the  confirmation  of  one 
of  my  oldest  and  most  cherished  convictions — the  im 
mense  value  of  principles.  There  is  no  right  against  right 
— to  practise  justice,  such  is  the  only  simple,  luminous, 
effective,  and  truly  useful  policy. 

Suppose  for  a  moment  that  England  had  had  no  other 
policy  than  this,  what  would  have  happened  ?  Civil  war 
would  have  been  prevented  or  abridged  ;  a  painful  mis 
understanding  would  not  have  weighed  upon  the  relations 
of  two  great  peoples;  grievances  and  chances  of  war 
would  not  have  been  infinitely  multiplied ;  there  would 
have  been  much  less  suffering;  cordial  relations  would 
have  been  strengthened  in  the  Old  World  as  in  the  New. 

There  are  hours  of  struggle  and  peril  when  the  least 
encouragement,  the  slightest  grasp  of  a  friendly  hand, 
leaves  ineffaceable  memories.  They  are  seeds  of  love  and 
friendship,  sown  in  ready  prepared  soil.  What  we  sow 
to-day,  we  shall  reap  hereafter. 


TWO   NATIONS    IX    ENGLAND.  93 

In  sketching  this  picture,  I  have  described  in  advance 
and  by  way  of  contrast,  the  sad  effects  of  a  policy  in 
which  principles  are  treated  as  follies — a  policy  which, 
fearing  before  every  tiling  to  appear  sentimental,  seems 
to  take  pleasure  in  doing  the  opposite  on  all  points  to 
what  the  instinct  of  justice  would  prescribe.  To  estab 
lish  no  difference  between  right  and  rebellion,  to  take  de 
light  in  displaying  an  impartiality  little  in  conformity 
with  the  rights  of  nations,  to  abound  in  suspicions  and 
scruples  with  respect  to  those  who  are  defending  the 
cause  of  law  and  liberty,  to  invent  favorable  interpreta 
tions  and  privileged  positions  in  behalf  of  those  who  are 
treading  under  foot  the  national  constitution  at  the  same 
time  with  humanity,  to  discover  that  the  separation  might 
be  useful  before  asking  whether  it  be  just,  to  impose  si 
lence  on  indignation  and  sympathy,  not  even  to  be  dis 
quieted  about  the  balefulness  and  immorality  that  must  at 
all  events  arise  from  the  triumph  of  iniquity,  to  refuse  the 
glorious  role  which  offers  itself  to  England,  to  let  go  the 
occasion  of  proving  once  more  to  the  world  that  she  sets 
something  above  her  interests,  and  that  the  Bible  can 
beat  back  cotton  in  case  of  need,  to  turn  her  back  upon 
the  only  chance  of  conciliating  at  once  the  friendship  of 
America  and  the  esteem  of  Europe  without  entering, 
moreover,  in  any  manner  into  the  quarrel  of  the  North 
and  South — such  are  the  advantages  which  have  been 
procured  by  force  of  distrusting  the  candid  application 
of  principles.  It  would  have  been  too  malignant,  indeed, 
to  have  admitted  with  the  first  comer  that  slavery  was 
at  the  bottom  of  the  difference,  that  the  adversaries  of 
slavery  should  be  preferred  before  its  partisans,  that,  in 
any  case,  the  result  of  an  election  should  be  respected, 
that  right  was  right,  that  the  national  Government  was 


94  ENGLAND. 

the  national  Government,  and  that  the  insurrection  was 
an  insurrection. 

What,  therefore,  has  occurred  ?  The  American  peo 
ple,  which  expected  much  of  England,  has  experienced 
with  respect  to  it  a  disappointment  full  of  bitterness. 
Friendship  has  been  wounded  and  confidence  mistaken — 
great  evil  has  been  wrought.  It  counted  on  the  relation 
ship,  the  natural  alliance  of  free  peoples ;  it  counted,  be 
fore  all,  on  the  cordial  support  of  the  nation  which  had 
expended  a  million  of  dollars  and  overcome  the  resistance 
of  interests  to  emancipate  the  slaves  of  its  colonies.  They 
beheld  meetings  in  advance,  they  fancied  that  they  al 
ready  heard  the  pleadings  of  orators ;  parliament  was 
about  to  resound  with  encouragement  and  friendly  ex 
hortation  to  America  ;  the  churches  were  about  to  rise  in 
turn ;  the  Christian  public,  the  living  bond  of  the  two 
countries,  was  about  to  learn  the  meaning  of  the  glorious 
mission  in  store  for  it ;  Americans  were  about  to  hear  the 
cry  from  all  sides :  "  We  are  with  you ;  we  entreat  you 
not  to  fall  back  or  stagger  in  your  enterprise.  It  is  a  dif 
ficult  one — to  arrest  the  growth  of  slavery  and  then  en 
sure  its  gradual  suppression,  is  to  accomplish  the  greatest 
social  revolution  which  a  people  has  ever  been  permitted 
to  pursue  on  earth.  Courage  !  You  will  set  a  noble  ex 
ample,  you  will  do  more  than  we  ourselves  have  done  for 
the  cause  of  abolition.  You  will  devote  to  it  more  ef 
forts,  more  sacrifices,  more  money,  and  more  blood ;  but 
you  will  succeed,  and  your  success  will  ensure  the  final 
triumph  of  emancipation  in  the  whole  world." 

This  is  what  was  hoped  of  England.  It  was  hoped 
with  the  more  confidence,  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  had 
scarcely  quitted  the  American  soil,  where  an  enthusiastic 
welcome  had  appeared  to  seal  the  lasting  forgetfulness  of 
old  quarrels.  This  confidence  was  such  that,  deceived  at 


TWO    NATIONS    IN    ENGLAND.  95 

the  first  moment,  it  was  nevertheless  persevered  in  with 
touching  obstinacy.  Men  could  not  resign  themselves  to 
hearing  no  word  of  affection  from  beyond  the  seas.  The 
day  of  peril  had  come,  it  was  impossible  that  friends, 
kindred,  and  brothers  should  not  take  their  part  in  this 
honorable  distress,  accepted  for  the  service  of  humanity. 
They  waited  long ;  they  long  repeated  to  themselves  that 
there  was  some  mistake,  that  the  nature  of  the  conflict 
was  not  yet  comprehended  by  England.  At  length  it 
was  necessary  to  yield  to  evidence — the  evil,  a  mysterious 
evil,  had  done  more  harm  than  had  been  believed.  With 
icy  sang-froid,  the  English  nation  signified  to  America, 
that  its  struggle  was  of  interest  to  no  one,  that  the  Hag 
of  slavery  displayed  by  the  South  was  revolting  to  no  one, 
that  the  success  of  the  South  dismayed  no  one,  that  the 
dismemberment  of  the  United  States  saddened  no  one. 

Xo  one!  I  go  too  far  in  saying  this,  and  honorable 
exceptions  should  be  signalled  out ;  but  these  exceptions 
have  been  so  rare,  expressions  of  sympathy  have  been  so 
nearly  lacking,  the  leading  organs  of  public  opinion  have 
treated  America  with  so  much  rudeness,  that  indifference 
has  been  the  incontestable  attitude  of  the  nation. 

I  say  these  things  without  circumspection,  because  I 
say  them  without  hatred.  My  affection  has  also  suffered 
decline — a  decline  resembling  the  grief  which  we  ex 
perience  when  a  friend  disappoints,  by  some  action,  the 
esteem  in  which  we  have  held  him.  And  where  is  the 
friend  of  liberty  that  would  not  be  a  friend  of  England? 
Far  from  wishing  it  harm,  we  consider  its  good  as  much 
as  that  of  America  itself,  when  we  deplore  the  culpable 
coldness  of  which  it  has  just  given  proof.  We  feel  that 
impartiality  has  its  penalties  ;  one  suffers  on  both  sides. 

At  no  price  would  I  wish  to  join  in  the  mad  declarna- 


96  ENGLAND. 

tions  which  are  hurled  against  "  perfidious  Albion."  I 
will  not  say,  for  I  do  not  think  that  her  policy  is  always 
unscrupulous,  that  she  never  yields  to  a  generous  impulse. 
When  she  arms  her  volunteers,  when  she  increases  a 
navy  whose  superiority  is  the  very  condition  of  its  exist 
ence,  I  am  neither  astonished  nor  irritated  thereby. 
Petty  jealousies  with  respect  to  it  have  never  touched  my 
heart,  and  if  the  punishment  of  its  conduct  toward  Amer 
ica  should  rebound  on  its  head,  I  would  be  the  first  to  be 
grieved  by  it. 

It  is  precisely  for  this  reason  that  my  remarks  may  be 
of  use.  An  accusation  would  be  wounding  ;  the  expres 
sion  of  the  grief  of  a  friend,  the  organ  of  many  others, 
may  find  its  way  to  the  conscience. 

There  are  two  nations  in  England.  Whoever  does 
not  begin  by  admitting  this,  must  renounce  all  hope  of 
understanding  the  history  of  this  strange  country. 

There  are  two  nations,  I  say  it  to  the  glory  of  Eng 
land.  How  many  peoples  are  there,  among  whom  ener 
getic  reactions  toward  good  are  unknown  !  How  many 
countries  are  there,  whose  rivers  flow  smoothly  down  an 
even  slope,  where  no  block  of  granite  ever  falls  to  turn 
aside  the  current !  Blocks  of  granite  have  fallen  into  the 
current  of  England. 

Oftenest,  doubtless,  the  river  turns  aside,  then  de 
scends  tranquilly  to  the  sea,  while  nothing  announces 
that  an  obstacle  has  disturbed  the  flow  of  the  waters. 
These  are  the  epochs  of  inertia,  languor,  and  forgetfulness 
of  principles;  a  policy  then  prevails,  not  more  selfish, 
perhaps,  than  the  policy  of  other  governments,  but  less 
attached  to  forms,  and  more  offensive,  by  reason  of 
unceremoniousness  and  bad  taste.  But  suddenly  a  reac 
tion  is  wrought ;  a  great  moral  truth  comes  to  light, 


TWO    NATIONS   IN   ENGLAND.  97 

agitation  becomes  diffused,  a  superior  force  arises  in 
opposition  to  the  power  of  habits  and  interests.  Human 
ity  then  wins  one  of  its  victories .  To-day,  it  is  the 
abolishment  of  the  slave  trade  ;  to-morrow,  it  will  be  the 
abolition  of  slavery  ;  the  day  after,  Catholic  emancipation ; 
then,  the  reform  of  Parliament ;  then,  the  protective  sys 
tem.  There  will  be  extended  investigations,  there  will 
be  persevering  efforts  to  obtain  religious  liberty  every 
where,  there  will  be  powerful  sympathies  in  favor  of  the 
independence  of  peoples.  When  Christian  and  liberal 
England  rises,  \vhen  its  journals  and  meetings  begin 
to  protest  against  a  great  social  iniquity,  we  feel  that 
this  will  not  be  a  passing  and  feeble  desire,  a  well- 
meaning  caprice,  such  as  we  have  witnessed  too  often, 
but  a  fixed  design  which  will  be  pursued  to  the  end  with 
that  manly  energy  which  delays  discourage  no  more  than 
reverses. 

Before  the  reactions  of  which  I  speak,  the  common 
traditions  of  the  British  administration  always  yield  in 
the  end.  We  know  in  what  manner  the  crimes  of  the 
Indian  government  were  openly  denounced  in  Parliament. 
We  know  what  voices  were  raised,  even  during  the 
American  war  to  obtain  the  independence  of  the  United 
States.  If,  some  day,  the  opium  trade  should  succumb, 
upon  which  I  count,  it  will  fall,  be  sure,  beneath  the  blows 
of  a  moral  reaction  aroused  in  England. 

This  is  how  it  happens  that  English  history  contains 
so  many  contrasts,  so  much  good,  and  so  much  evil.  He 
who  sees  nothing  but  the  evil,  is  in  the  wrong ;  he  who 
sees  nothing  but  the  good,  is  likewise  in  the  wrong.  There 
are  two  nations,  I  repeat.  When  unprincipled  England 
grieves  us,  let  us  turn  with  confidence  toward  liberal  and 
Christian  England  !  Thank  God  !  the  latter  is  constantly 
gaining  ground.  For  fifty  years,  it  has  not  ceased,  as  it 
5 


98  ENGLAND. 

were,  to  give  battle.  For  a  moment  in  torpor,  it  was  not 
long  in  awaking.  It  is  at  hand,  it  is  advancing ;  a  little 
late,  doubtless,  but  nevertheless  in  time  ;  it  is  about  to 
reform  with  its  generous  hand  the  policy  pursued  with 
respect  to  the  United  States. 

We  must  be  patient;  English  reactions  are  always 
somewhat  slow.  This  proceeds,  it  is  just  to  remark,  from 
a  sentiment  of  patriotism.  Before  openly  attacking  the 
conduct  of  their  country,  especially  outside  itself,  the 
English  usually  begin  by  associating  themselves  with  it. 
Their  instinct  urges  them  to  form  one  body,  to  see  noth 
ing  at  first  but  the  British  flag.  Independence  of  opinion 
is  lacking  them  at  the  first  moment,  and  their  ministers 
of  foreign  affairs  are  almost  sure  to  be  followed.  But, 
by  degrees,  they  reflect,  they  become  enlightened,  they 
discuss,  they  redeem  by  great  noise  and  energy  the  do 
cility  of  the  beginning. 

How  could  it  be  otherwise,  among  a  people  reared  for 
so  many  years  in  the  school  of  free  discussion  ?  For  six 
or  seven  centuries,  England  has  possessed  her  Magna 
Charta,  her  Habeas  Corpus,  her  Parliament,  and  her 
jury ;  for  more  than  two  centuries,  these  institutions, 
mere  forms  under  the  Tudors,  have  been  the  sovereign 
and  indestructible  law  of  the  land.  England  had  her 
freemen  when  we  had  only  courtiers;  she  had  her  great 
parliamentary  struggles  at  the  epoch  of  our  petits  abbes. 
Brilliant  on  other  sides,  and  needing  to  envy  no  one  in 
point  of  glory,  it  would  ill  become  us  to  despise  the 
country  of  Russell,  Sydney,  and  Defoe,  the  nation  which 
escaped  by  force  of  vigor  from  the  fearful  peril  of  the 
Stuarts  pensioned  by  Louis  XIV.,  and  charged  with  dis 
ciplining  England  according  to  the  French  method  of  the 
time.  If  we  resemble  it  too  little  to  fully  comprehend  it, 


TWO    NATIONS    IN    ENGLAND.  99 

it  seems  to  me  that  nothing  hinders  us  from  rendering  it 
justice. 

It  is  a  strange  spectacle,  which  certainly  has  its  great 
ness — a  people  which  now  suffers  itself  to  be  dragged 
down  almost  to  degradation  by  those  who  govern  it,  and 
which  then  rises  up  with  incomparable  energy,  confessing 
its  faults,  attacking  the  wrong,  its  own  crimes,  beginning 
and  pursuing  one  of  those  searching  investigations  which 
end  in  reform ;  a  people  in  which  the  moral  sense  speaks 
loudly  ;  a  people  among  whom  uprisings  against  injustice 
are  something  else  than  the  caprice  or  fashion  of  a  mo 
ment.  How  many  generous  voices  have  been  raised  since 
that  of  Burke  !  How  many  liberties  have  been  labori 
ously  won,  by  speech,  by  perseverance,  without  shedding 
blood  or  overthrowing  the  Constitution — the  liberty  of 
slaves,  religious  liberty,  political  liberty,  commercial  lib 
erty,  colonial  liberty!  This  powerful  England,  where  de 
signs  endure  and  are  carried  into  action,  where  the  re 
clamations,  I  should  say,  the  outbursts  of  the  human 
conscience  redeem  the  sometimes  odious  acts  of  an  un 
scrupulous  policy — this  England,  which  makes  itself  hated 
by  good  right,  and  which  makes  itself  loved  by  better 
right  still — are  we  justified  in  judging  it  by  the  evil 
which  it  was  near  doing,  without  remembering  the  good 
which  it  has  accomplished  ? 

It  is  the  most  liberal,  yet  least  revolutionary  of  all  peo 
ples.  A  loyal  nation,  loving  its  Queen,  plunged  entire 
into  mourning  by  the  death  of  Prince  Albert,  it  has  never 
confounded  progress  with  levelling,  it  has  never  believed 
that  respect  for  the  law  could  be  contrary  to  the  passion 
for  liberty.  Faithful  to  its  ancient  traditions,  conserva 
tive  without  being  stagnant,  it  looks  in  the  lace  its  three 
mortal  enemies — the  spirit  of  absolutism,  the  spirit  of 
conquest,  and  the  spirit  of  revolution. 


100  ENGLAND. 

A  heroic  nation,  Our  equal  on  the  battle  field,  England 
has  escaped  from  the  mania  of  uniforms  and  plumes ;  by 
her  instincts,  by  her  interests,  by  the  influence  of  the  Gos 
pel,  she  loves  peace. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  Gospel ;  therein — why  shall  it 
not  be  said  ? — therein  is  found  the  source  of  those  great 
moral  reactions  which,  becoming  more  and  more  frequent 
since  the  religious  awakening  has  strengthened  its  em 
pire,  will  end,  ere  long,  by  transforming  English  policy. 
Formerly,  English  policy  was  in  bad  repute,  and,  frankly 
speaking,  it  deserved  to  be.  More  cynical  than  Machia 
vellian,  placarding,  exaggerating  its  selfishness  as  if  de 
signedly,  little  pharisaical,  but  very  gross,  it  seemed  to 
have  taken  upon  itself  the  task  of  provoking  and  defying 
hatred. 

To-day,  all  this  has  changed.  If  a  few  antiquated 
spirits  still  repeat  the  civis  sum  Romanus  of  British 
pride,  if  the  cry  of  war  against  America  has  been  repeat 
ed  for  a  moment  by  the  crowd,  if  the  disposition  rudely 
to  break  down  all  resistance  is  still  manifested  here  and 
there,  a  better  disposition  is  also  making  its  appearance, 
another  people  is  rising. 

This  other  people  is  that  which  gives  its  gold  to 
spread  through  the  world  the  word  of  God,  which  coura 
geously  undertakes  the  mission  at  home  and  the  healing 
of  the  gaping  wounds  of  pauperism,  which  believes,  which 
prays,  which  consecrates  itself,  which  endows  its  country 
(a  strange  fact,  which  we  cannot  enough  admire)  with  a 
literature  decidedly  moral,  which  accosts  Christianity 
on  the  side  of  holiness  and  duty,  which  links  together 
with  jealous  care  the  chain  of  faith  and  of  good  works. 
This  is  the  people  whose  persevering  sympathies  for  all 
that  is  generous  has  forced  policy  to  bow  before  justice. 


CHAPTER  H. 

CONDUCT    OF   ENGLAND. 

THERE  was  need  of  writing  the  preceding  pages  ;  they 
will  explain  and  corroborate  those  which  are  about  to 
follow.  If  it  be  our  duty  to  resist  evil,  it  is  also  our  duty 
to  believe  in  good. 

This  duty,  we  rarely  fulfil ;  for  want  of  not  fulfilling 
it,  our  criticism  resembles  hatred. 

Hatred  never  served  a  good  cause.  I  know  neither 
men  here  below  who  are  all  of  a  piece,  nor  nations  who 
are  wholly  devoted  to  perverse  designs.  The  South 
itself,  I  have  taken  care  to  say,  contains  many  more  sin 
cere  men  and  noble  hearts  than  we  should  suppose  if  we 
judged  it  by  its  institutions  or  passions,  forgetting  to  take 
into  account  the  influence  of  surroundings. 

I  will  remain  an  optimist  with  respect  to  England  as 
I  have  been,  it  is  said,  with  respect  to  the  United  States. 
To  be  an  optimist  is  usually  to  be  right.  Our  grumbling 
age,  which  willingly  fastens  on  the  dark  side  of  things, 
would  fall  into  misanthropy  and  discouragement  if  no  one 
showed  it  the  bright  side. 

I  wish  to  define  in  a  few  words,  without  either  en 
larging  or  extenuating,  the  grave  fault  with  which  I  have 
to  reproach  England. 


102  ENGLAND. 

To  pretend  that  she  has  taken  part  with  the  South,  or 
even  that  she  has  deliberately  wished  for  the  separation 
of  the  South,  would  be  to  go  beyond  the  truth.  Her 
crime  is  that  of  having  been  indifferent.  Her  moral  neu 
trality  is  what  has  dismayed  and  grieved  to  the  soul  all 
those  who  remember  her  true  claims  to  glory. 

On  the  1st  of  August,  1834,  when  eight  hundred 
thousand  human  beings  passed  from  slavery  to  liberty, 
England  contracted  a  solemn  engagement,  for  which  the 
public  opinion  of  the  whole  world  should  hold  her  to  ac 
count.  Since  that  day,  there  has  not  been  an  enemy  of 
slavery  who  has  not  looked  toward  her  shores,  there  has 
not  been  a  poor  negro  whose  heart  has  not  beat  at  her 
name,  there  has  not  been  a  slave  trader  who  has  not  dread 
ed,  before  every  thing,  the  appearance  of  the  British  flag. 
If  Portugal  and  Brazil  have  renounced  the  slave  trade,  it 
has  been  through  the  urgent  demands  of  England  ;  if 
Spain  feels  her  odious  practices  in  Cuba  menaced,  it  is 
because  there  is  an  England  to  reproach  her  with  them 
publicly.  Let  her  seize  upon  Whydah  and  Lagos,  and 
all  will  applaud  ;  even  those  whose  jealousy  is  most  alarm 
ed  by  her  aggrandizements,  know  that  Lagos  would  be 
an  advanced  post  from  which  she  would  watch  over,  and 
ere  long  put  down  the  infamous  King  of  Dahomey. 

The  greatness  of  England  is  in  the  principle  which  she 
represents.  Even  though  she  should  lose  Gibraltar  and 
Corfu,  and  I  believe  that  she  will  lose  them  some  day, 
even  though  she  should  lose  Canada  itself  and  her  Indian 
empire,  she  will  suffer  no  diminution,  provided  she  re 
main  the  land  of  political  liberty,  of  religious  liberty,  and 
of  negro  liberty. 

Ah,  well !  we  who  do  not  wish  the  decline  of  England, 
we  who  do  not  talk  of  its  "  corrupt  institutions"  have 


CONDUCT    OF    ENGLAND.  103 

suffered  from  its  attitude  during  the  past  year  beyond 
what  I  can  express. 

For  a  year,  its  leading  journals  have-  had  little  else 
than  mockeries  or  insults  for  America  striving  to  uprise. 
The  fall  of  the  Southern  supremacy,  which  had  debased 
and  was  on  the  point  of  destroying  every  thing,  has  been 
applauded  by  no  one.  The  English  government  has  ac 
corded  the  title  of  belligerents  at  the  outset  to  the  South 
ern  rebels.  As  to  the  American  nation,  the  only  one 
which  it  should  have  known  officially,  it  has  not  given  it 
the  moral  support  of  a  word  of  sympathy. 

I  need  nut  go  further  to  become  indignant.  Violated 
right  has  not  moved  these  champions  of  right ;  liberty  at 
stake  has  not  moved  these  champions  of  liberty.  Their 
impartiality  in  such  a  matter  has  been  one  of  the  scandals 
of  our  times. 

Let  no  one  mistake  my  thought !  England  had  to 
intervene  in  nothing  ;  even  though  she  had  not  elevated 
the  insurgents  to  the  rank  of  belligerents,  she  would  have 
been  bound  not  to  act.  Woe  to  the  country  whose  civil 
wars  "witness  the  unfurling  of  a  foreign  flag !  It  was  ne 
cessary  therefore  to  be  impartial,  but  not  in  the  manner 
that  has  been  seen.  We  shall  have  fallen  very  low  on 
the  day  when,  under  the  pretext  of  remaining  neutral, 
great  nations  shall  affect  to  distinguish  no  longer  between 
good  and  evil.  I  strive  to  be  moderate,  in  order  to 
remain  just.  To  the  crime  of  indifference,  T  will  not  join 
that  of  complicity  with  the  South.  All  sorts  of  rumors 
have  been  spread  abroad,  which  I  refrain  from  accepting. 
The  early  recognition  of  the  South  was  nearly  fixed  upon 
several  times !  The  separation  of  the  South  and  North 
was  considered  as  an  advantage  to  be  preserved  by  all 
means  !  The  incident  of  the  Trent  furnished  a  pretext  to 
the  policy  of  the  cabinet  !  In  default  of  this  pretext, 


1 04  ENGLAND. 

others  would  have  been  sought,  if  public  opinion  had  not 
been  at  length  aroused  ! 

That  this  may  have  been  true  of  some  members  of  the 
cabinet,  it  seems  to  me  difficult  to  doubt  ;  but  that  Earl 
Russell,  Mr.  Gladstone  and  still  others  would  have  accept 
ed  such  a  programme,  who  could  believe  ?  Many  things 
are  said  as  times  go,  and  the  evil  desires  that  flash  at 
moments  across  the  imagination  of  statesmen  are  easily 
transformed  into  systems. 

I  adhere,  for  my  part,  to  the  public  acts  of  the  English 
Government.  It  has  addressed  serious  warnings  to  the 
shipowners  who  have  announced  their  design  of  traffick 
ing  with  Southern  ports  ;  it  has  refused  to  inquire  into 
the  efficiency  of  the  blockade  at  a  time  when  the  blockade 
was  not  as  efficient  as  it  is  to-day  ;  it  has  repulsed,  in  fine, 
the  overtures  which  have  been  certainly  made  to  it  by 
the  agents  of  Jefferson  Davis,  commissioned  to  promise 
every  thing — every  thing,  even  to  the  liberty  of  unborn 
children,  in  exchange  for  recognition.  It  is  evident  that, 
in  concert  with  France,  it  insures  some  months  of  security 
to  the  military  operations  of  the  North. 

This  is  little  ;  it  cannot  be  said  that  it  is  nothing.  If 
the  English  Government  has  made  a  show  of  a  lamenta 
ble  indifference,  if  it  has  encouraged  the  rebellion  by 
avoiding  to  say  from  the  beginning  what  would  have  dis 
couraged  it,  it  has  given  proof  of  some  merit,  notwith 
standing,  in  restraining  the  impatience  of  the  manufactur 
ing  population.  In  other  times  and  among  other  peoples, 
an  interest  as  colossal  as  that  of  the  cotton  manufacture 
would  not  have  been  Ions:  in  dictating  the  law.  It  is 

O  O 

honorable  to  the  age  in  which  we  live,  that  such  a  victory 
of  matter  over  mind  has  been  hitherto  impossible,  and 
that,  in  the  presence  of  a  country  which  has  not  permitted 


CONDUCT    OF    ENGLAND.  105 

it,  we  have  a  right  to  censure  more  than  praise.  It  ought 
to  do  still  better.  We  esteem  it  too  much  to  judge  its 
conduct  to  have  been  worthy  of  it. 

I  maintain  this  judgment,  although  I  regret  moreover 
the  accusations  of  different  kinds  which  have  been  directed 
against  the  English  government.  If  it  suffered  the  Nasli- 
ville,  which  had  just  burned  an  American  merchant  ship, 
to  enter  the  harbor  of  Southampton,  it  only  conformed  in 
this  to  the  rules  of  neutrality  ;  the  Sitmter  has  also  been 
able  to  take  shelter  successively  at  Martinique,  Cadiz,  and 
Gibraltar,  without  authority  having  been  given  by  the 
law  of  nations  to  the  French,  Spanish,  or  English  govern 
ments,  to  give  her  up  to  the  American  ships  in  pursuit 
of  her. 

Even  with  respect  to  the  export  of  arms  and  ammuni 
tion  to  the  rebellious  South,  the  English  government  may 
maintain  that  it  has  strictly  fulfilled  its  international  obli 
gation.  I  say  "  strictly,"  for  it  is  certain  that  with  a 
little  good  will,  and  by  the  terms  of  the  Queen's  proclama 
tion,  which  forbade  exportations  of  this  nature,  it  might 
have  succeeded  in  preventing  whole  fleets,  under  its  eyes, 
in  the  midst  of  the  Thames,  and  in  sight  of  Downing 
street,  from  being  loaded  with  arms,  addressed  to  Charles 
ton.  In  Canada,  shipments  of  this  sort  have  not  ceased 
to  take  place.  Would  nothing  have  been  obtained  by 
repeated  warnings,  by  the  energetic  manifestation  of  the 
blame  that  would  be  incurred  by  such  operations  ?  In 
any  case,  patience  has  been  carried  somewhat  far. 

This  has  also  been  true  in  other  circumstances.  When 
the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  took  place  in  the  South, 
impolitic  men  were  found  there  who  were  not  afraid  of 
showing  the  horror  inspired  in  them  by  abolition  England. 
An  English  captain  of  a  merchant  vessel  was  tarred  and 
feathered.  Usually,  the  English  government  is  most 
5* 


106  ENGLAND. 

prompt,  for  which  I  praise  it,  in  avenging  such  insults ; 
it  must  have  a  public,  striking  reparation.  What  hap 
pened  this  time  ?  The  affair  was  brought  by  Mr.  Dun- 
combe  before  the  House  of  Commons,  which  found  the 
thing  amusing,  since  it  burst  into  laughter.  The  ministry 
talked  of  inquiry  ;  and  the  whole  was  doubtless  ended  by 
some  trifling  indemnity,  accorded  under  the  rose  to  the 
tarred  and  feathered  captain. 

In  the  same  manner,  English  subjects  were  enrolled 
by  force  in  the  Southern  army,  and  English  property  was 
confiscated.  Was  reclamation  made  ?  I  know  not.  One 
thing  is  certain  ;  noise  was  avoided.  Impartiality,  as  it 
was  then  understood,  exacted  this  caution. 

But  when  the  point  in  question  is  to  estimate  rightly 
the  conduct  of  a  country  like  England,  we  are  not  to  rely 
upon  considering  the  acts  of  government,  but  to  read 
journals,  to  hear  speeches,  and  to  interrogate  parties. 
The  policy  of  the  nation  is  formed  there  much  more  than 
in  the  council  chamber  of  the  ministry. 

The  importance  and  influence  of  the  Times  are  well 
known.  The  Times  has  given  the  tone,  we  may  say,  to 
English  opinion  with  respect  to  America,  and  this  from 
the  beginning.  From  the  first  moment,  it  maintained, 
with  that  capricious  abruptness  for  which  it  is  distin 
guished,  that  slavery  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  separa 
tion  of  the  North  and  South,  that  the  disruption  was  final, 
that  it  was  desirable  and  right,  that  the  Washington  cab 
inet  was  at  once  insane  and  criminal  in  fighting  against 
the  Richmond  government,  that  abolition  would  speedily 
find  its  account  in  Southern  independence,  that  the  insur 
gents  had  been  raised  by  good  right  to  the  character  of 
belligerents. 

Since  opinion  in  England  has  shaken  off  its  torpor,  and 


CONDUCT    OF    ENGLAND.  107 

the  prospect  of  an  alliance  with  Jefferson  Davis  has 
aroused  the  public  conscience,  the  Times  has  modified 
its  bearing.  We  have  seen  it,  now  recommending  a  sort 
of  relative  moderation  in  the  Trent  affair ;  then  return 
ing  to  its  former  violence,  and  exploiting,  with  passionate 
injustice,  the  stone  blockade  of  Charleston.  Neverthe 
less,  upon  the  whole,  it  has  become  marvellously  calm; 
it  does  not  recommend  the  violation  of  the  blockade,  it 
has  even  published  strong  and  noble  words  to  demon 
strate  to  the  English  that  to  cease  now  to  recognize  the 
blockade  would  be  to  degrade  the  national  policy.  Its 
theory,  until  further  orders,  is  absolute  neutrality. 

It  has  even  had  a  few  satirical  strokes  here  and  there 
for  the  slave  States;  and  no  one  has  forgotten  the  article 
in  which,  recommending  that  no  ovation  should  be  pre 
pared  for  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell,  it  signified  to  them 
in  fitting  terms  that  England  esteemed  neither  their  cause 
nor  their  person,  and  that  she  would  have  done  for  "  two 
negroes"  precisely  what  she  had  done  lor  them. 

The  Times  is  impartial  in  its  way,  fur  it  spares  no  one. 
It  is  also  impartial  in  a  more  honorable  manner,  inasmuch 
as  it  admits  full  liberty  to  its  correspondents,  who  repair, 
in  some  degree,  the  harm  produced  by  the  leading  editor 
ship. 

This  is  essential ;  for  the  Times  correspondents  are 
often  men  of  the  greatest  merit,  and  through  them  are 
pursued  investigations  full  of  energy,  perseverance,  and 
clearsightedness.  Important  services  were  thus  rendered 
by  the  Times  in  the  Crimean  campaign,  and  even  those 
who  were  angered  by  its  articles  were  forced  to  admit 
that,  without  it,  the  reform  of  the  military  administration 
would  not  have  taken  place. 

Mr.  Russell,  the  Times  correspondent  in  America,  has 
followed  and  recounted  the  march  of  events  with  little 


108  ENGLAND. 

goodwill,  doubtless,  but  with  a  sincerity  and  talent  which 
cannot  be  denied.  His  letters,  nearly  all  of  which  have 
been  copied  by  the  American  journals,  have  not  been  use 
less  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  government.  The  admonitions 
therein  are  sometimes  severe,  but  often  salutary.  With 
out  rendering — far  from  it — full  justice  to  the  North, 
Mr.  Russell  is  not  at  least  among  those  who  are  mis 
taken  in  the  true  causes  of  the  war  or  the  chances  of  suc 
cess.  He  has  the  merit  of  cordially  detesting  the  South 
and  saying  so. 

I  have  been  anxious  to  signalize  this  spirit  of  serious 
inquiry,  this  search  into  facts  which  characterizes  the  or 
gan  of  the  city,  even  at  the  times  when  it  wanders  most 
astray.  It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  pay  the  same 
compliment  to  the  journal  which  passes  for  expressing  the 
ideas  of  Lord  Palmerston.  The  Morning  Post  has  not 
extenuated,  by  the  impartiality  of  its  correspondence,  the 
violence  of  its  leading  articles.  To  deny  the  successes  of 
the  North,  to  exaggerate  with  enthusiasm  those  of  the 
South,  to  be  irritated  at  every  thing  that  could  increase 
the  chances  of  the  Washington  Government,  to  be  indig 
nant  when  the  Orleans  princes  generously  placed  their 
swords  at  the  service  of  the  United  States,  frequently  to 
announce  recognition  as  almost  certain,  if  not  immediate, 
to  deny  the  legality  of  the  blockade,  to  discover  in  the 
obstruction  of  Charleston  harbor  a  veritable  cause  of  war, 
to  renounce  as  tardily  as  possible  the  occasion  furnished 
by  the  Trent,  and  to  seek  directly  for  another  to  take  its 
place,  to  give  out  the  impression,  in  fine,  that  the  patience 
of  England  is  well-nigh  exhausted ;  such  are  the  principal 
features  of  a  line  of  argument  which  has  profoundly' 
alarmed  the  friends  of  America,  and  no  less  profoundly 
grieved  the  friends  of  England.  At  times,  it  is  true,  the 
Morning  Post  has  seemed  to  change  tactics ;  we  have 


CONDUCT    OF    ENGLAND.  109 

seen  it  once  offer  resistance  to  those  in  too  much  haste,  and 
the  recent  progress  of  public  opinion  has  wrought  a  trans 
formation  in  its  editorship.  Nevertheless,  it  has  done 
immense  harm,  through  the  sole  fact  that  men  have 
thought  that  they  saw  in  this  editorship  the  more  or  less 
faithful  reflection  of  the  prime  minister's  ideas.  This, 
perhaps,  will  be  now  denied ;  I  had  rather,  I  confess,  it 
had  been  denied  a  little  sooner. 

As  to  the  journals  of  the  Tory  party,  their  opinions 
cannot  be  doubtful — England  must  procure  cotton,  "  by 
fair  means  or  foul ;"  such  has  been  the  profession  of  faith, 
brief  and  clear,  of  the  Morning  Herald.  Toward  the  end 
of  January,  moreover,  it  demanded  that  ships-of-war 
should  be  stationed  before  all  the  Southern  ports  to 
insure  freedom  of  trade  to  neutral  merchant  vessels! 

Has  there  been,  then,  no  journal  in  England  which  has 
defended  the  right  cause,  and  been  faithful  to  the  liberal 
traditions  of  the  country  ?  Let  us  forbear  to  believe  it. 
The  Daily  News,  which  is  regarded  as  the  habitual  organ 
of  Earl  Kussell,  the  /SV</r,  the  Glvbt3,  the  Scotsman,  the 
London  Quarterly  Rcri<  ^,  and  several  others  have  op 
posed  the  7V//H.s\  the  Mnrniny  JPoxt,  and  the  Morning 
ILirald.  The  cheap  press,  whose  importance  cannot  be 
mistaken,  has  also  declared  itself,  since  the  Trent  affair,  in 
favor  of  a  less  provoking  and  more  courteous  course  of 
conduct.  Decidedly,  a  reaction  is  becoming  wrought,  and 
principles  are  being  arrayed  in  battle  against  interests, 
while  waiting  till  men  shall  have  learned  fully  to  compre 
hend  that  interests  have  no  better  allies  than  principles. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  distinction  of  Whig 
and  Tory,  which  tends  to  become  effaced  in  the  home 
policy  of  England,  seems  to  preserve  its  full  value  with 
respect  to  America.  The  Tories  on  this  point  have  learned 


110  ENGLAND. 

nothing,  and  forgotten  nothing ;  they  are  still  with  Lord 
Chatham,  ordering  himself  carried  to  the  House  of  Lords, 
and  protesting  with  his  dying  voice  against  the  proposi 
tion  to  recognize  the  United  States.  The  United  States 
always  represent  in  their  sight  a  rebellion  which  must  be 
punished,  a  republic  which  must  be  humiliated,  a  rival  navy 
which  must  be  weakened.  One  would  call  it  an  article  of 
faith  of  the  Quarterly  Itevieio,  Blackwoo&s  Magazine,  and 
their  readers,  that  there  is  nothing  good  in  the  United 
States,  that  every  American  is  a  bankrupt,  that  the  mob 
governs,  that  Lynch  law  is  applied  at  the  corner  of  every 
street,  that  the  ridiculous  and  the  odious  jostle  each 
other  unceasingly  in  American  society.  The  Tories  once 
reproached  Earl  Russell  for  having  abandoned  "  moral 
neutrality"  by  uttering  a  few  words  in  Parliament  on  the 
abominations  of  slavery.  On  the  occasion  of  the  annual 
dinner  of  the  Conservative  Colchester  Association,  they 
attempted  a  great  demonstration  in  favor  of  the  South ; 
Captain  Jervis  openly  proposed  there  to  break  the 
blockade,  to  support  the  slave  States,  and  thus  to  put  an 
end  to  the  sufferings  of  the  cotton  manufacture.  Despite 
the  lesson  which  had  been  given  them  by  public  opinion, 
in  which,  it  must  be  admitted,  so  emphatic  a  policy  had 
found  no  support,  a  number  of  the  leading  members  of 
the  party,  Sir  John  Packington,  General  Peel,  Major 
Beresford,  Lord  Derby  himself,  and  Mr.  D'Israeli  have, 
some,  encouraged  the  tendencies  of  Lord  Palmerston, 
others,  given  out  the  impression  that  a  Tory  cabinet,  not 
content  with  placing  the  South  among  belligerents,  will 
manage  ere  long  to  give  it  a  place  among  recognized 
governments. 

We  know  what  passed  at  the  dinner  of  the  Fishmong 
ers'  Corporation.  This  important  body  had  invited  Mr. 
Yancey,  the  Commissioner  sent  to  London  by  Jefferson 


CONDUCT    OF    ENGLAND.  Ill 

Davis.  There,  in  the  presence  of  a  sympathizing  assembly, 
amidst  unanimous  applause,  this  representative  of  the 
slave  States  could  not  forbear  exclaiming :  "  The  word 
America  no  longer  represents  a  united  people  ;  there  no\v 
exist  two  American  nationalities."  Then,  alluding  to  the 

O 

name  of  rebels  which  the  North  pretended  to  apply  to 
Southern  men,  he  continued:  "Thanks  to  this  great 
English  movement,  promptly  followed  by  France  and 
Spain,  justice  and  the  sentiment  of  right  have  quickly 
effaced  such  a  stigma  from  our  brows,  and  here,  at  least, 
my  fellow-countrymen  are  recognized  as  belligerents." 
He  concluded  by  expressing  the  gratitude  of  the  South 
for  this  prompt  proclamation  of  its  right :  JSts  dat  qiii  cito 
d<if — u  Who  gives  quickly  gives  twice."  And  the  assem 
bly,  which  was  not  ignorant  that  the  proclamation  had 
been  prompt  indeed,  responded  by  prolonged  huzzas. 

At  the  other  extremity  of  the  political  world,  two 
radicals,  Messrs.  Roebuck  and  Lindsay,  have  shown  no 
more  good  will  for  the  North.  Mr.  Roebuck  has  applied 
himself  to  recalling  the  insolence,  the  presumption,  the 
recent  insults  whereby  America  has  alienated  all  the 
sympathies  of  England.  As  to  Mr.  Lindsay,  the  former 
guest  of  the  United  States,  where  he  held  a  mission,  he 
appears  to  be  one  of  those  champions  of  free  trade  who 
inspire  us  with  a  horror  of  it  by  sacrificing  thereto  every 
other  principle  and  every  other  liberty.  lie  does  not 
wish  the  blockade  to  be  respected;  he  applauds  the 
separation  ;  he  admits  that  the  South  can  arm  a  million 
men  ;  he  demands,  in  fine,  that  England  shall  proceed  to 
official  recognition.  We  Avill  add  that  the  Sunderland 
electors,  until  then,  most  lavish  of  applause,  had  the  good 
sense  to  become  indignant  on  hearing  this  conclusion,  and 
courageously  hissed  their  representative. 

My  task  would  be  too  great  were  I  to  make  the  com- 


112  ENGLAND. 

plete  round  of  these  electoral  banquets,  where  so  many 
members  of  Parliament  met  before  its  opening  to  give 
their  profession  of  faith  respecting  American  affairs. 
These  professions  of  faith  bear  a  general  resemblance  to 
each  other,  in  that  the  fact  of  separation  is  admitted  as 
definitive,  and  that  sympathy  for  a  generous  cause  is 
entirely  lacking ;  but  ordinarily  the  orators  have  taken 
care  to  predict  the  success  of  the  South  without  counsel 
ling  England  to  aid  it.  Among  the  prophecies  of  which 
I  speak,  I  shall  cite  that  addressed  at  the  end  of  last  Sep 
tember,  by  Sir  Edward  Bulwer  Lytton  to  the  Agricul 
tural  Society  of  Hertford  County:  "  My  young  hearers  of 
to-day  will  live  long  enough  to  see  not  two,  but  at  least 
four  independent  republics,  sprung  from  the  United 
States."  There  is  no  feeling  of  hatred,  moreover,  among 
those  who  express  themselves  in  this  wise  ;  their  motives 
are  in  some  sort  geographical — nations  too  large  never 
fail  to  become  shattered.  "  I  am  far  from  thinking,"  he 
takes  care  to  say,  "  that  these  separations  must  be  pre 
judicial  to  the  destinies  of  America,  or  to  that  principle 
of  self-government  in  which  consists  the  essence  of 
liberty." 

I  need  now,  and  also  the  reader,  to  hear  some  more 
generous  accents.  There  have  been  men,  thank  God ! 
who  have  raised  their  voices  to  recall  the  true  cause  and 
the  greatness  of  the  American  conflict,  men  who  have 
not  waited  to  declare  themselves  until  the  sudden  change 
of  public  opinion  which  we  have  witnessed  should  be  first 
produced.  Without  speaking  of  Messrs.  Cobden  and 
Bright,  to  whom  we  shall  presently  return  in  connection 
with  the  Trent  affair,  I  may  cite  Messrs.  Latham  and  Gil- 
pin,  who  have  encouraged  the  North  to  show  more  and 
more  that  it  is  struggling  against  slavery,  and  have  prom 
ised  it  the  increasing  sympathies  of  England.  Mr.  Fors- 


CONDUCT    OF    ENGLAND.  113 

ter  exclaimed  at  Bradford :  "  It  would  be  an  eternal 
shame  to  England,  were  we  to  intervene  for  the  South 
and  for  slavery.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  we  shall 
act  in  this  manner  if  we  violate  a  legitimate  blockade,  or 
prematurely  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy,  con 
trary  to  the  law  of  nations." 

I  like  the  speech  made  by  Lord  Stanley  a  few  months 
since,  at  the  court-house  at  Lynn.  It  is  not  the  first 
time  that  the  son  of  Lord  Derby  has  acted,  not  only  as  a 
superior  but  a  truly  liberal  man.  Although  admitting 
the  probability  of  a  final  separation,  his  language  breathes 
a  lofty  and  cordial  sympathy.  We  feel  that  he  esteems 
this  great  people  of  the  United  States,  and  believes  in  its 
future.  lie  brands  the  spiteful  and  petty  passions  which 
arc  indulged  in  with  respect  to  it,  and  would  abhor  the 
idea  of  profiting  by  its  embarrassment. 

If  we  listen  now,  at  the  same  epoch,  that  is,  before 
the  opening  of  Parliament,  to  the  members  of  the  cabinet 
and  the  personages  whose  influence  makes  itself  felt  in  the 
direction  of  public  affairs,  we  shall  remark  anew  this  mix 
ture  of  good  and  evil,  this  proclaimed  indifference,  this 
policy  of  provisory  neutrality  to  which  they  seem  to  cling 
while  awaiting  better ;  then  other  men  here  and  there  rep 
resent  the  better  feelings  of  the  nation. 

Lord  Palmerston  clearly  showed  his  icy  coldness  with 
respect  to  the  North  when,  in  his  speech  at  Dover,  he 
spoke  of  the  "  fast  running  which  signalized  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run."  Later,  at  the  Lord  Mayor's  dinner,  the 
prime  minister  expressed  himself  more  becomingly — he 
pledged  his  country  to  patience,  mourned  over  "this  dif 
ference  of  the  most  deplorable  character  between  those 
whom  we  call  our  cousins  and  allies,"  and  offered  up  the 
most  ardent  wishes  for  peace,  refusing,  however,  to  pass 
any  judgment  on  the  quarrel. 


114  ENGLAND. 

Lord  John  Russell  was  less  prudent,  because  his  mind 
was  more  liberal.  He  did  not  fear  to  pass  judgment  in 
the  House  of  Commons  on  the  quarrel,  openly  accusing 
and  anathematizing  slavery,  while  adding  that,  in  his 
opinion,  other  reasons,  those  of  supremacy,  had  played 
the  chief  part.  At  Newcastle  he  manifested  real  interest 
in  the  United  States.  "  It  would  be  a  great  misfortune," 
he  exclaimed,  "  if  this  free  government  were  to  crumble 
away." 

Mr.  Gladstone  has  also  spoken ;  his  address  at  Leith 
will  remain  as  a  shining  condemnation  of  the  passions 
which  so  nearly  gave  birth  to  war.  He  recognizes  the 
noble  conduct  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  government,  to  which  he 
wishes  justice  to  be  rendered,  and  considers  it  a  duty  to 
labor  to  maintain  or  reestablish  the  relations,  not  of  peace 
only,  but  of  reciprocal  affection  between  the  LTnited 
States  and  England. 

I  conclude  on  this  point  by  citing  a  few  excellent 
words,  addressed  by  the  Duke  of  Argyle  to  his  tenants  : 

"  Fears  have  been  recently  expressed  on  the  subject 
of  the  inconveniences  which  must  result  to  our  country 
from  the  struggle  which  has  broken  out  in  America,  and 
these  inconveniences  are  deemed  so  grave  that  there  is 
talk  of  asking  the  government  to  intervene.  ...  I 
have  too  high  an  opinion  of  the  good  sense  of  the  people 
of  this  country  to  believe  that  it  will  wish  to  exercise 
such  a  pressure  on  the  government,  and  I  should  add  that 
I  have  too  great  confidence  in  the  firmness  and  intelli 
gence  of  the  government  and  parliament,  to  believe  that 
they  will  ever  consent  to  such  a  pressure.  .  .  .  We 
will  not  look  at  the  question  of  what  is  called  the  right 
of  secession.  "No  country  has  ever  existed,  to  my  knowl 
edge,  admitting  that  a  part  of  it  had  a  right  to  secede  and 
abstract  itself  from  its  domination.  .  .  If  the  South- 


CONDUCT    OF   ENGLAND.  115 

ern  States,  as  they  loudly  proclaim,  believe  that  slavery 
is  by  no  means  an  evil  which  should  be  tolerated  only 
and  made  to  cease  as  speedily  as  possible,  but  a  divine  insti 
tution,  a  benefaction  to  humanity,  which  should  be  main 
tained  and  extended,  and  defended  till  death,  then  it  is 
natural  that  the  South  should  rise  for  its  protection.  But 
in  this,  as  in  all  other  revolutions,  those  who  take  part  in 
it  should  be  finally  judged  by  the  verdict  of  humanity.  . 
.  .  We  certainly  wish  most  ardently  that  the  struggle 
may  promptly  cease  ;  but  there  is,  I  must  acknowledge, 
another  wish  which  should  stand  before  this  in  our  hearts 
— that  the  end  of  this  war,  at  whatever  moment  it  may 
come,  whether  sooner  or  later,  may  be  worthy  of  the 
sacrifices  which  it  has  exacted,  that  it  may  cooperate  in 
the  civilization  of  the  world  and  advance  the  cause  of 
human  liberty." 

If  every  one  wishes  neutrality,  if  every  one  continues 
to  wish  for  peace,  I  affirm  at  least  that  every  one  has  not 
wished  neutrality  and  peace  hi  the  sfnne  manner.  One 
wishes  them  in  the  manner  of  the  Morning  Post,  and 
another  in  that  of  the  Dally  N"eics  ;  one  in  the  manner 
of  Lord  Palmerston,  and  another  in  that  of  Lord  Stanley, 
Air.  Gladstone,  and  the  Duke  of  Argyle. 

The  fact  is,  that  of  the  two  nations  which  coexist  in  Eng 
land,  the  less  good  is  the  one  which,  for  the  past  year,  has 
directed  or  inspired  the  relations  with  the  United  States. 
Distrust,  refusal  of  sympathy,  the  theory  of  belligerents, 
neutrality  coupled  with  indifference,  the  unceasing  dis 
covery  of  new  grievances,  the  perpetual  threat  of  South 
ern  recognition,  the  passionate,  and  in  some  sort  eager 
exploitation  of  incidents  which  might  lead  to  a  rupture, 
the  far  from  touching  resignation  to  the  horrible  conse 
quences  which  this  rupture  would  entail — such  is  what 


116  ENGLAND. 

has  been  seen  among  Englishmen  under  the  guidance  of 
this  first  nation. 

What  a  change  since  the  other  nation  has  appeared ! 
The  victory,  we  have  a  right  to  affirm  from  this  time, 
will  belong  to  the  England  of  the  Bible,  to  that  which 
the  Southern  journals  have  dreaded  and  anathematized 
from  the  beginning  of  the  conflict.  "  We  should  be  sure 
of  winning  it,"  they  said  then,  "  through  cotton  and  free 
trade,  icere  it  not  for  the  fanaticism  against  slavery 
which  may  put  a  check  on  the  friendly  disposition  of  the 
British  government."  They  were  not  mistaken  ;  to  those 
who  have  examined  it  without  prejudice,  Christian  and 
liberal  England  has  never  so  far  hidden  itself  that  they 
have  not  felt  its  presence  and  foreseen  its  speedy  awaking. 

This  will  be  one  of  the  strangest  and  at  the  same  time 
noblest  struggles  of  our  times.  The  cotton  crisis  on  one 
side,  the  Gospel  and  liberty  on  the  other.  Which  will 
win  ?  The  answer  at  first  seems  doubtful,  but  it  will  not 
long  seem  so.  The  true  sympathies  go  to  the  North ; 
no  one  can  longer  contest  it.  Before  every  thing,  justice, 
before  every  thing,  humanity,  before  every  thing,  duty ! 
England  will  not  be  made  an  ally  of  Jefferson  Davis ; 
decidedly,  this  will  not  be  done.  The  South,  which  has 
diverted  itself  greatly  on  the  score  of  philanthropists,  is  in 
the  way  to  learn  at  its  expense,  that  their  power  surpasses 
that  of  the  Times  and  of  Lord  Palmerston. 

Through  the  sorrow  which  the  attitude  of  England 
has  caused  us  during  the  past  year,  we  experience  a  secret 
consolation  in  verifying  that  Christian  and  liberal  opinion, 
even  when  torpid,  has  nevertheless  commanded  respect. 
Despite  cotton,  despite  free  trade,  despite  the  annoyances 
of  a  blockade  which  daily  clashed  with  the  interests  and 
pride  of  the  English,  a  blockade  insufficient  in  the  begin 
ning,  and  which  confiscated  a  considerable  number  of  the 


CONDUCT    OF   ENGLAND.  117 

• 

ships  of  Manchester  and  Liverpool,  there  has  been  in  the 
heart  of  this  energetic  community,  a  sentiment  which  no 
one,  let  him  have  wished  it  as  he  may,  has  dared  offend 
too  strongly.  Every  thing  has  been  attempted ;  but 
whenever  there  has  been  question  of  exceeding  certain 
limits  and  really  sustaining  the  South,  an  obstacle  has 
always  been  raised,  a  veto  has  always  made  itself  heard. 
England,  in  tine,  has  remained  neutral,  in  spite  of  all  the 
motives  which  urged  her  to  be  otherwise  ;  the  moral 
sentiment,  upon  the  whole,  has  won  a  victory. 

I  wish  no  proof  of  this  from  what  has  passed  in  those 
manufacturing  centres  on  which  reposed  the  hopes  of  the 
South.  By  their  advances,  they  had  long  relieved  the 
slaveholders  ;  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  wel 
comed  by  them  with  a  sort  of  stupor  ;  they  trembled  for 
slavery,  the  programme  of  secession  was  not  perhaps  un 
known  to  them.  Yet  such  is  the  power  of  abolition 
opinion  in  England,  that  even  here  retrograde  tendencies 
have  not  succeeded  in  taking  form.  On  the  arrival  of 
the  new  Minister  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Adams,  the 
Liverpool  Chamber  of  Commerce  received  him  with  con 
gratulations.  When  the  incident  of  the  Trent  threatened 
to  bring  about  war,  a  numerous  gathering  assembled  at 
Birmingham,  with  the  mayor  at  its  head,  and  adopted  a 
memorial  in  favor  of  arbitration.  Again,  the  other  day,  the 
annual  meeting  of  the  Manchester  Chamber  of  Commerce 
furnished  to  the  "  cotton  princes"  the  natural  occasion  for 
supporting  the  policy  of  intervention.  What  did  they 
do,  on  the  contrary  ?  They  were  unanimous  in  disavow 
ing  it.  Not  a  person  was  found  among  them  who  deem 
ed  it  proper  to  declaim  against  the  blockade.  Yes, 
at  Manchester,  at  Liverpool,  at  Birmingham,  at  South 
ampton,  the  generous  impulse  of  minds  is  also  going 
forth;  the  true  English  opinion  is  reappearing;  the 


118  ENGLAND. 

public  conscience  feels  itself  wounded  by  the  system  of 
chicanery  which  has  lately  endeavored  to  turn  to  ac 
count,  now  the  blockade,  then  the  stone  fleet,  then  some 
thing  else. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that,  in  a  few  months,  when  the 
sufferings  of  manufacturers  shall  have  still  further  in 
creased,1  formidable  impatience  may  not  be  manifested. 
It  will  be  then,  perhaps,  exclaimed :  "  We  detest  the 
cause  of  the  South,  and  we  have  proved  it ;  but  necessity 
has  no  law.  Although  we  may  have  no  right  to  interfere 
against  those  whose  principles  are  our  own,  nevertheless 
the  patience  of  our  workmen  is  at  an  end.  They  are 
dying  of  hunger  ;  the  war  in  America  must  end  ;  cotton 
must  be  restored  to  us ;  with  peace,  prosperity  must 
spring  up  anew,  and  the  consumers  of  the  New  World 
resume  their  place  in  the  markets." 

Such  is  the  language  which,  doubtless,  will  some  day 
be  held,  if  the  United  States  do  not  make  haste  to  win 
decisive  advantages  ;  but,  in  the  mean  time,  a  very  differ 
ent  language  is  held,  and  we  should  applaud  it.  England 
is  becoming  herself  again. 

I  have  spoken  of  Birmingham,  Manchester,  and  Liv 
erpool,  I  might  have  likewise  cited  London.  Without  de 
signing,  indeed,  to  mention  here  all  the  English  meet 
ings,  how  can  I  forbear  recalling  the  first  that  took  place 
in  the  most  populous  quarters  of  the  capital  ?  The  one 
held  at  Lambeth,  early  in  December,  voted  an  address 
by  acclamation,  demanding  that  the  difference  of  the 

1  Although  great,  they  are  not  yet  what  they  threaten  to  become  in 
future.  Cotton  has  not  failed  hitherto  ;  Havre  and  Liverpool  have  even 
exported  it  to  America.  But  the  dearth  will  show  itself  ere  long  in  all 
its  horror,  unless  the  maritime  positions,  of  which  the  North  have  just 
taken  possession,  give  an  outlet  to  cotton,  and  the  discouraged  South 
cease  to  prohibit  its  exportation. 


CONDUCT   OF    ENGLAND.  119 

Trent  should  be  submitted  to  an  arbitration  ;  the  other, 
held  at  Mary-le-Bone  more  recently,  adopted  the  follow 
ing  resolution  : 

"...  It  is  incumbent  on  this  meeting  to  express  the 
sympathies  of  the  working  men  for  the  United  States  in 
the  gigantic  struggle  which  they  are  sustaining  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Union ;  to  denounce  to  the  world  the 
disgraceful  arguments  of  the  Times  and  its  contemporaries, 
organs  of  the  aristocracy  in  favor  of  slavery  ;  and  to  com 
mend  to  the  energetic  expounders  of  public  opinion  the 
scrupulous  interpretation  of  the  doctrine  of  non-interven 
tion  in  the  affairs  of  the  United  States,  and,  also,  the 
measure  which,  by  means  of  commissioners  especially  ap 
pointed  for  each  State,  submits  to  arbitration  all  differ 
ences  that  may  arise." 

If  I  do  not  approve  all  the  tendencies  expressed  or 
supposed  in  this  resolution,  ''addressed  to  the  cabinet  at 
Washington  as  being  the  expression  of  the  sentiments 
and  opinions  of  the  working  classes  in  England,"  I  find 
it  none  the  less  remarkable  that  the  working  men  thus 
rebel  with  energy  against  the  policy  of  intervention 
which  pretends  to  serve  their  interests.  There  is  here  a 
symptom  of  moral  resurrection,  the  weight  of  which  can 
not  be  mistaken. 

It  was  also  among  the  working  population  that  the 
meeting  was  held  at  Rochdale,  where  the  speech  of  Mr. 
Bright  and  the  letter  of  Mr.  Cobden  protested  against  a 
warlike  policy,  impatient  of  all  delay  and  all  arbitration, 
and  accepting  without  a  frown  the  chance  of  striking 
hands  in  the  South  with  slavery. 

Other  protests  are  beginning  to  rise  up  on  all  sides. 
We  know  what  was  the  Guy  Fawkes  of  1802  :  upon  the 
effigy  was  read  in  large  letters :  Jefferson  Davis,  dealer 
in  slavery. 


120  ENGLAND. 

Scotland  has  naturally  distinguished  herself.  There, 
too,  the  great  manufacturing  cities  have  held  to  the  honor 
of  repudiating  the  tendencies  which  had  been  attributed 
to  them.  Glasgow,  one  of  the  first,  has  voted  an  address 
in  favor  of  peace  with  the  United  States. 

In  blaming  England,  (and  Ave  are  to  blame  her,  though 
she  has  been  better  than  her  policy  during  the  past  year,) 
in  blaming  England,  it  is  important  not  to  forget  that,  de 
spite  her  faults,  she  has  always  contained  within  herself 
an  element  of  resistance  to  evil,  the  influence  of  which 
has  made  itself  felt.  The  Anglophobic  declaimers  forget 
this,  and  the  consequence  is  that  they  are  not  in  a  condi 
tion  to  offer  any  explanation  of  it. 

Why,  for  example,  has  Mr.  Gregory,  the  champion 
of  the  South  in  the  House  of  Commons,  himself  recoiled 
during  the  last  session,  nor  dared  make  his  famous  speech, 
so  much  talked  of  in  advance  ?  Why  have  the  splendid 
offers  of  Jefferson  Davis — freedom  of  trade,  freedom  of 
unborn  children,  and  all  that  thenceforth  ensues — not  sue-? 
ceeded  in  making  themselves  welcomed  in  any  measure  or 
in  any  form  ?  Why  has  the  system  of  non-intervention 
definitively  supplanted  the  militant  feeble  desires  which 
preceded,  accompanied,  and  followed  the  Trent  affair  ? 
Why  has  the  chicanery  against  the  blockade  given  place 
to  the  most  inoffensive  measure  which  closes  English 
ports  to  armed  vessels,  and  is  about  to  deprive  maritime 
cities  of  the  chance  spectacle  of  a  naval  battle  ?  Why 
would  any  one  be  sure,  or  very  nearly  so,  of  being  foiled 
in  parliament,  who  should  say  there  :  "  The  South  must 
lie  recognized  :  at  least  an  end  must  be  put  to  this  war ; 
our  manufactories  are  standing  still ;  we  have  therefore 
a  right  to  regulate  the  affairs  of  America."  Why  did 
the  speech  of  Mr.  Massey  receive  without  delay,  and 
in  Manchester  itself,  this  crushing  response :  "  I  believe 


CONDUCT    OF    ENGLAND.  121 

that  I  speak  in  the  name  of  nineteen  out  of  twenty  of  our 
manufacturers  when  I  declare  that  we  do  not  wish  the  aid 
which  Mr.  Massey  would  like  to  give  us"?  Why  the 
indignation  at  the  idea  of  a  war  witli  the  United  States 
through  commiseration  for  the  sufferings  of  the  cotton 
manufacture  ?  Because  the  true  sentiments  of  England 

O 

may  have  been  veiled  for  a  moment,  but  have  not  been 
destroyed. 

Upon  the  whole,  were  it  necessary  to  state  in  a  few 
words  the  inference  to  be  drawn  from  this  chapter,  I 
should  say  that  the  English  have  been  guilty  above  all 
of  indifference.  And  this  crime  is  not  small !  They,  the 
standard-bearers  of  negro  liberty,  they  who,  in  such  a  mat 
ter,  had  charye  of  souls,  have  for  long  months  disappointed 
the  hopes  of  the  entire  world  ;  they  have  suffered  much 
harm  to  be  done  in  their  name  ;  little  was  wanting — and 
only  the  goodness  of  God  has  preserved  us  from  such  a 
misfortune — for  them  to  have  drawn  the  sword  against 
Lincoln  for  Jefferson  Davis ;  they  have  inflicted  upon  us, 
their  friends,  one  of  the  bitterest  deceptions  that  we  have 
ever  encountered  in  our  career.  What  matters  it  there 
fore  to  us  whether  they  have  or  have  not  had  to  combat 
designs  conceived  by  other  powers  in  favor  of  the  viola 
tion  of  the  blockade  or  Southern  recognition  ?  If  they 
have  opposed  them,  it  was  because  it  was  their  nature  to 
do  it.  It  was  so  truly  their  mission  that  we  should  hard 
ly  know  how  to  give  them  credit  for  having  fulfilled  it. 
So  long  as  they  have  not  done  something  better,  so  long 
as  their  warm  sympathies  have  not  come  to  the  encourage 
ment  of  those  struggling  for  a  good  cause,  we  shall  not 
offer  them  the  insult  of  praising  them. 


CHAPTER  III. 

TRUE   MOTIVES   OF   THE   CONDUCT    OF   ENGLAND. 

IT  is  the  characteristic  of  legitimate  conclusions  that 
they  deduce  themselves,  it  being  necessary  only  to  point 
them  out.  Thus,  everywhere  in  this  study,  as  I  need  not 
weary  the  reader  by  repeating,  the  marvellous  power  of 
principles  breaks  forth  to  the  sight.  If  Europe  had  obeyed 
them,  if  England  had  listened  to  them,  what  a  transforma 
tion  wrould  there  have  been  in  the  policy  followed!  As 
soon  as  the  positions  again  become  simple,  difficult  ques 
tions  are  resolved,  the  chances  of  war  recede,  crises  lose 
their  violence,  the  standard  of  morality  becomes  elevated. 
At  the  same  time,  lot  us  not  forget,  interests  recover  the 
satisfaction  to  which  they  have  a  right.  Nothing  is  so 
beneficent  as  justice,  nothing  is  so  useful  (I  underline  the 
word)  as  integrity  ;  between  principles  and  interests,  the 
opposition  is  never  real. 

Therein  is  the  fundamental  idea  which  I  should  like  to 
see  evolved  from  my  work,  although  I  do  not  dream 
indeed  of  establishing  it  doctorally.  How  many  times 
already  have  we  been  led  to  its  verification  ;  men  have 
thought  to  serve  commerce,  by  trampling  upon  principles, 
and  they  have  disserved  it ;  they  have  thought  to  gain 
money,  and  they  have  lost  it ;  they  have  sought  to 


ENGLAND'S  TRUE  MOTIVES.  123 

bring  about  peace,  and  they  have  gone  on  toward  war. 
"  The  more  we  avoid  interference,  the  shorter  will  be  the 
struggle,"  this  saying  was  not  invented  by  cabinet  theo 
rists,  it  has  come  to  us  from  practical  men,  from  great 
English  manufacturers.  They  have  perceived  by  degrees 
that  a  war  for  cotton  would  give  but  little  cotton,  and 
would  not  aid  in  the  establishment  of  American  consump 
tion.  Of  the  two  causes  of  commercial  suffering  in 
Europe,  the  failure  of  cotton,  and  the  failure  of  the 
markets,  it  would  do  little  toward  relieving  the  first,  and 
would  surely  aggravate  the  second. 

This  leads  me  to  examine  more  closely  whether  it  be 
true,  as  is  pretended,  that  the  interests  of  commerce  and 
manufactures  have  been  almost  the  only  motive  power 
of  England  in  the  policy  pursued  by  her  during  the  past 
year  with  respect  to  the  United  States.  A  great  deal  lias 
been  said  about  cotton  and  calico!  calico  has  been  con 
cerned  in  the  matter,  I  doubt  not  ;  but  there  lias  been 
something  else  beside  ;  reasons,  if  not  more  important,  at 
least  more  elevated,  have  contributed  their  full  part  in 
determining  the  attitude  of  the  English  people.  It  is 
only  just  to  show  this — it  is  both  just  and  salutary;  for 
the  better  it  is  known,  the  better  will  it  be  comprehended, 
and  the  better  also  will  reciprocal  animosities  be  calmed. 

As  to  cotton,  I  am  far  from  believing  that  a  wise  gov 
ernment  ought  not  to  take  considerations  of  this  nature 
into  account.  In  a  country  where  the  working  of  cotton^ 
turns  thirty  million  spindles,  and  gives  the  means  of  exist 
ence  to  nearly  lour  million  laborers,  it  would  be  a  strange 
magnanimity  that  should  take  high  ground  above  the  suf 
ferings  of  these  men,  women,  and  children.  Material  in 
terests  as  much  as  you  please!  They  translate  them 
selves  into  physical  and  moral  miseries.  Cotton  become 


124  ENGLAND. 

sccirce  ends  by  being  regarded  in  the  same  light  as  other 
provisions  in  a  famished  garrison.  Here  are  workmen  la 
boring  but  three  days,  two  days,  one  day,  perhaps,  in  a 
week ;  others  who  are  without  any  work  at  all,  and  have 
no  other  resources  than  the  gifts  of  charity. 

Let  us  hasten  to  say  that  this  charity  is  admirable, 
and  that  the  resignation  of  the  workmen  is  no  less  so. 
They  themselves  have  recognized  the  necessity  of  intro 
ducing  reduced  days'  work,  short  time,  into  the  manufac 
tories  ;  they  have  murmured  neither  against  their  masters 
nor  the  United  States,  and  we  have  seen  in  what  terms 
they  have  addressed  the  Americans. 

Government  has  only  to  follow  their  example.  While 
neglecting  nothing,  as  is  its  duty,  to  alleviate  and  abridge 
the  crisis,  it  should  comprehend  that  to  endure  such  a 
crisis  for  such  a  cause  would  be  to  effect  immense  prog 
ress.  There  is  here  wherewith  to  tempt  the  best  ambi 
tion  of  England.  It  is  unceasingly  repeated  that  this  age 
is  an  age  of  cotton,  that  cotton  rules,  that  cotton  is  king  ; 
the  question  is  to  prove  these  assertions  to  be  untrue.  Ex 
posed  to  the  most  formidable  temptation  that  a  manufac 
turing  nation  can  encounter,  it  would  be  glorious  to  look 
it  in  the  face,  and  go  straight  forward  on  its  way. 

The  United  States,  in  this  respect,  set  a  great  example 
to  Europe.  Their  factories  at  Lowell  arc  suffering  no  less 
than  those  at  Manchester  and  Mulhouse.  No  matter; 
duty  has  spoken,  a  noble  cause  must  be  sustained ;  they 
will  accept  the  suffering,  all  classes  will  submit  to  extend 
ed  privations,  and  we  shall  see  the  uprising  of  a  great 
people. 

England,  it  may  be  believed,  would  have  more  easily 
consented  to  take  part  in  the  sacrifice ;  she  would  have 


HER    TRUE    MOTIVES.  125 

admitted  with  a  hotter  grace  the  excellence  of  the  end 
toward  which  the  Americans  were  proceeding,  if  the  un 
lucky  adoption  of  a  new  tariff  had  not  occurred  to  bring 
into  discredit,  as  it  were,  in  the  nick  of  time,  the  incipient 
administration  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

It  was  just  at  the  very  moment  of  the  triumph  of  free- 
trade — a  free-tradist  myself  and  a  free-tradist  of  yester 
day,  I  have  the  right  to  speak — and  to  many  the  eco 
nomical  dogma  which,  after  having  prevailed  in  England, 
had  just  dictated  the  commercial  treaty  with  France,  took 
the  lead  of  every  other  truth. 

Although  the  Merrill  tariff  was  not  much  more  protec 
tive,  in  fact,  than  the  new  French-English  tariff;  neverthe 
less,  its  appearance,  just  at  the  rising  in  arms  of  the 
South,  did  incalculable  harm  in  England.  Even  friends, 
I  cite  the  Daily  News,  seemed  also  transformed  into  en 
emies. 

Men  accused  Mr.  Lincoln,  forgetting  how  these  events 
had  transpired.  While  Mr.  Lincoln  was  on  his  way  from 
Springfield  to  Washington,  he  was  asked,  at  a  great  meet 
ing  at  Pittsburgh,  what  he  thought  of  the  Merrill  tariff. 
lie  replied  that  it  ought  to  be  postponed  till  the  next 
session  of  Congress.  Eight  days  afterward,  Congress 
adopted  the  bill  without  waiting  for  the  ensuing  session, 
and  Mr.  Buchanan  signed  it  without  waiting  for  his  suc 
cessor.  One  would  have  said  that  he  was  in  haste  to  be 
queath  him  one  difficulty  more. 

The  South,  which  men  are  seeking  to  make  the  repre 
sentative  of  free  trade,  need  have  said  but  one  word  to 
its  docile  servant,  Mr.  Buchanan,  to  prevent  him  from 
giving  his  signature.  It  must  be  remembered  besides, 
that  the  tariff  of  1  842,  one  of  the  most  protective  ever 
passed  in  the  United  States,  was  supported  by  the  vote 
of  the  South.  It  must  be  also  remembered  that  the  free- 


126  ENGLAND. 

trade  of  the  South  has  hitherto  figured  only  in  its  plans, 
and  in  European  negotiations.  The  tariff  of  1857,  adopt 
ed  by  the  Montgomery  Congress,  does  not  pass  for  a 
model  of  commercial  freedom,  and  Jefferson  Davis  has 
taken  care  to  join  to  it  exportation  duties  which  are 
truly  enormous. 

I  do  not  impute  this  to  it  as  a  crime.  When  we  have 
great  expenses  on  our  hands,  we  must  make  money  of 
every  thing.  This  explains,  let  us  say  in  passing,  the  con 
duct  which  has  been  maintained  at  Washington.  Under 
the  presence  of  financial  embarrassments,  the  government 
has  suffered  itself  to  believe  (how  many  enlightened  coun 
tries  commit  the  same  error!)  that  by  increasing  the 
duties,  the  receipts  would  increase,  whence  arose  the 
new  bill  passed  during  the  war.  It  did  not  remem 
ber  that,  in  custom-house  matters,  two  and  two  never 
make  four.  But  patience  !  adversaries  of  the  prohibitory 
system  are  not  lacking  in  the  United  States ;  it  will  not  be 
long  before  the  aggravation  of  the  Merrill  tariff,  subjected 
to  the  test  of  trial,  wrill  be  attacked  on  different  sides.  I 
would  not  be  astonished  if  the  Morrill  tariff  itself,  a 
suicidal  tariff,  to  use  the  expression  of  Mr.  Motley,  should 
speedily  give  way  to  a  decidedly  liberal  measure. 

But  neither  cotton  nor  the  tariff  can  explain  the  un 
kindly,  almost  malevolent  feeling  which  has  repressed  for 
long  months  the  true  sentiments  of  England.  Whence 
comes  this  icy  coldness?  Whence  came,  at  the  first  news 
of  the  seizure  of  the  commissioners,  these  bursts  of  vehe 
ment  indignation? 

It  must  be  admitted  that  it  was  the  overflowing  of  a 
full  cup.  The  point  in  question  was  to  chastise  Yankee 
insolence  once  for  all. 

The  Americans,  we  admit,  have  often  been  very  arro- 


HER    TRUE    MOTIVES.  127 

gant  toward  the  English.  They  have  shown  themselves 
provoking  and  unjust.  But  what  Americans?  those  of 
the  North  or  the  South?  It  would  be  rather  strange  to 
make  friends  atone  tor  the  wrongs  of  enemies.  Now, 
whoever  has  penetrated  beneath  appearances  sees  that 
the  North  has  never  censed  to  be  attached  to  England  at 
heart  ;  it  was  the  South  that  detested  it.  It  was  the 
South  that,  resting  upon  its  cotton,  believed  itself  able  to 
brave  every  thing  against  it.  It  was  under  the  rule  of 
Southern  men  that  those  acts  of  violence?  were  committed 
—  the  bombardment  of  Greytown,  placed  under  English 
protection,  the  dismissal  of  the  English  ambassador  during 
the  Russian  war,  the  occupation  of  the  island  of  San  Juan. 

All  this  may  be  traced  to  Southern  policy,  a.  policy 
founded  on  the  violation  of  international  right,  on  the 
contempt  for  foreign  nations,  on  the  necessity  of  making 
conquests  for  slavery,  an  odious  policy,  of  which  the  filli- 
busters  of  Walker  were  the  worthy  agents,  and  the  Ostcml 
manifesto  the  glorious  formula.  Mark  that  this  policy 
had  as  its  fundamental  article,  the  hatred  of  England, 
abolition  England,  liberal  England,  conservative  England. 

By  what  strange  mistake  have  our  neighbors  beyond 
the  channel  placed  to  the  account  of  the  North  what 
belonged  essentially  to  the  South?  Doubtless,  the  North 
too  had  been  more  than  once  implicated;  it  had  more 
over  its  democratic  party  in  close  alliance  with  the  South. 
But  under  the  surface,  often  rough,  attentive  observers 
discover  something  else.  A  moment's  reflection  will  be 
sufficient  to  see  that,  once  in  conflict  with  the  South,  the 
North  would  seek  in  England  its  natural  outside  support. 

To  sustain  the  South  in  order  the  better  to  revenge  the 
humiliations  inflicted  by  the  South,  to  grant  the  prayers 
of  Mr.  Davis  and  Mr.  Mason  in  order  the  better  to  punish 
the  system  of  which  Messrs.  Davis  and  Mason  had  been 


128  ENGLAND. 

the  most  ardent  representatives,  surprises  me,  I  acknowl 
edge.  It  is  a  new  example  of  the  power  of  words.  The 
word  "  United  States,"  is  enough  with  many  ;  it  was  the 
United  States  by  whom  they  were  offended  ;  it  is  the 
United  States  that  must  pay  for  the  offence. 

I  shall  not  enter  upon  the  examination  of  these  real  or 
feigned  offences.  I  believe  that  England  has  self-respect 
enough  riot  to  show  herself  less  patient  toward  America 
weak,  than  she  did  toward  America  strong.  I  think  that 
she  knows  how  to  rank  in  their  proper  place,  many  pre 
tended  wrongs,  veritable  commercial  gossip,  words  attrib 
uted  to  such  or  such  a  statesman,  speeches  made  in  the 
heat  of  an  election,  the  passing  and  unimportant  excesses 
of  a  noisy  and  democratic  regime. 

As  to  the  concessions  which  she  has  made,  far  from 
considering  them  humiliating,  I  regard  them  as  among 
her  brightest  claims  to  honor.  Face  to  face  to  a  quarrel 
some  government  which,  under  the  constantly  dominant 
influence  of  the  South,  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  Union, 
England  has  known  how  to  show  herself  moderate.  So 
much  the  better!  She  has  given  way,  she  says,  eight 
times  in  twenty-five  years.  What  does  it  matter?  I 
ask  for  real  reasons  of  regret.  Would  it  have  been 
better  to  break  with  America  than  to  settle  the  questions 
of  Oregon,  Maine,  and  San  Juan  as  she  has  done? 

The  fact  remains  unhappily  certain,  that  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  American  government  have  been  often  of  a 
nature  to  irritate  England.  We,  Frenchmen,  will  not 
refuse  to  comprehend  national  susceptibilities.  They  have 
played  a  much  greater  part  than  has  been  imagined  in 
the  misunderstanding  of  the  last  year.  They  have  ren 
dered  in  some  measure  plausible  the  suppositions  of  those 
who  say,  "  The  act  of  Captain  Wilkes  is  grave  in  our  eyes, 
only  because  we  see  in  it  the  inevitable  and  long  foreseen 


HER    TRUE    MOTIVES.  129* 

conclusion  of  a  policy  hostile  to  England.  Has  not  Mr. 
Seward  himself  made  speeches  in  his  time  worthy  of 
the  most  palmy  days  of  American  arrogance?  Has  he 
not  designated  Canada  as  the  possible  compensation  for 
the  loss  of  the  South  ?  The  plan  was  fixed  or  nearly  so. 
Knowing  that  we  should  be  attacked,  could  we  scruple 
much  in  becoming  ourselves  the  assailants? 

I  understand  the  sentiment  that  is  thus  expressed  ;  it 
may  have  existed,  but  is  about  to  disappear.  The  Trent 
affair  has  rent  asunder  many  veils,  and  laid  bare  many 
positions ;  the  two  peoples  have  seen  each  other,  perhaps 
for  the  first  time,  in  their  true  colors.  Behind  the  blind 
transports  of  the  moment,  America  has  perceived  the 
lasting  affection  of  liberal  Englishmen  for  the  cause  which 
she  is  maintaining ;  behind  the  declamations  of  the  occa 
sion,  England  has  perceived  the  attachment  of  a  friendly 
and  sister  nation.  Henceforth,  I  hope,  the  monopoly  will 
be  left  to  Southern  statesmen,  Mr.  Toombs,  for  example, 
of  those  malignant  attacks  in  which  he  formerly  excelled, 
when  he  declared  on  the  floor  of  Congress  that  it  was  his 
ambition  to  cover  the  Atlantic  with  armed  steamers  in 
order  to  humble  Great  Britain. 

I  would  go  too  far,  doubtless,  were  I  to  affirm  that 
many  Englishmen,  on  their  side,  were  moved  by  the  desire 
of  humbling  the  United  States.  It  is  notwithstanding 
incontestable  that  English  policy  has  inherited  the  maxim 
from  the  last  century,  which  clear-sighted  men  reject,  but 
which  has  its  effect  upon  the  crowd,  that  the  maritime 
preponderance  of  England  exacts  the  abasement  of  the 
United  States. 

There  are  men  in  England  who  detest  Americans  as 
cordially  as  their  ancestors  did  at.  the  close  of  the  Revo 
lutionary  war.  There  are  some  who  regard  as  a  great 
6* 


130*  ENGLAND. 

advantage  the  coexistence  of  two  rival  races,  constantly 
engaged  in  strife,  and  annulling  each  other.  There  are 
some  who  have  a  vision  of  a  protectorate  in  the  South,  or 
even  a  monarchical  establishment  under  an  English  prince, 
with  a  national  church  and  all  its  appendages ;  yes,  the 
united  kingdom  of  England,  Ireland,  and  America  ap 
pears  to  have  mirrored  itself  before  some  imaginations. 

All  this  must  enter  into  the  computation  when  we 
would  explain  the  impulses  of  the  public  mind.  I  take 
care,  moreover,  not  to  stop  at  considerations  of  this  kind. 
Although  future  danger  of  interference  from  the  Amer 
ican  navy  may  be  taken  in  earnest  by  the  majority  of 
English  statesmen,  I  do  not  think  that  such  a  motive  had 
a  marked  influence  on  their  attitude.  It  is  more  probable 
that,  in  the  recent  complications  called  forth  by  the  war, 
they  have  found  a  natural  occasion  to  put  Canada  in  a 
state  of  defence,  or  to  display  the  immense  maritime  re 
sources  of  their  country. 

I  cannot  help  believing  that  they  have  also  found  oc 
casion  therein  to  obtain  another  kind  of  success.  The 
cabinet  lived  by  expedients,  the  majority  was  reduced  to 
the  most  alarming  proportions.  Lord  Palmerston  saw 
the  session  approaching  without  having  yet  discovered 
means  to  strengthen  his  position.  Suddenly,  an  over 
whelming  majority  presented  itself;  the  Tories  promised 
their  support ;  the  Morning  Herald  pledged  it  solemnly 
in  their  name,  provided  Lord  Palmerston  showed  no 
weakness  toward  the  United  States ;  it  was  a  party  stroke, 
and  the  long  parliaments  of  the  American  war  seemed 
about  to  begin  anew.  With  the  war,  all  serious  opposi 
tion,  for  the  moment  at  least,  would  cease ;  the  national 
excitement  would  give  birth  to  a  sort  of  unanimity ;  all 


HER   TRUE    MOTIVES.  131* 

reforms  and  all  questions  difficult  of  solution  would  fall  to 
the  second  place. 

If  we  add  to  this,  that,  unfortunately  for  Englishmen, 
they  are  far  from  examining  their  foreign  with  as  much 
independence  as  their  home  affairs,  that  they  are  accus 
tomed  on  this  point  to  follow  their  government  at  first 
with  almost  blind  docility,  and  to  criticize  later,  too  late, 
when  {lie  nation  is  at  strife,  arid  you  will  comprehend  that 
the  right  of  the  parliamentary  session  and  the  triumphant 
majority  may  have:  contributed,  unknown  to  the  English 
people  and  the  ministers  themselves,  to  the  rigidity  that 
has  Leen  introduced  into  American  relations. 

But  let  us  come  to  a  more  justifiable  and  also,  I  am 
convinced,  more  real  motive.  If  there  had  been  nothing 
but  cotton,  or  the  tariff,  or  the  fear  excited  by  a  hostile 
navy,  or  the  remembrance  of  a  vexatious  quarrel  or  un 
friendly  measures,  or  the  desire  of  settling  old  accounts 
and  preventing  hostile  designs,  or  the  tempting  chance  of 
securing  an  election,  neither  the  English  nor  their  govern 
ment  would  have  acted  as  they  have  done. 

Their  great  motive,  their  great  excuse,  shall  I  say,  has 
been  that,  for  many  years  past  and  with  increasing  vio 
lence,  English  institutions  have  been  attacked  in  the  name 
of  those  of  America.  The  United  States  have  become  an 
engine  of  war,  a  battering-ram  hurled  unceasingly  against 
their  ramparts. 

One  might  be  irritated  for  less  cause.  What  thence 
ensued  ?  In  the  embarrassment  of  the  United  States, 
England  saw  at  first  only  the  embarrassment  of  a  republic  ; 
in  the  failure  of  the  American  cause,  she  saw  the  failure 
of  Mr.  Bright  and  the  radical  party.  The  controversy  has 
been  continued  in  this  manner  through  events  and  by 
events.  The  more  the  embarrassment  increased  on  the 


132*  ENGLAND 

other  side  the  Atlantic,  the  more  was  the  rejoicing,  on 
this  side,  for  having  a  throne  and  a  House  of  Lords. 

I,  certainly,  would  not  be  the  one  to  regret  that  the 
English  republicans  should  receive  such  a  lesson;  I  know 
of  few  enemies  more  dangerous  to  liberty.  Let  the  consti 
tutional  monarchy  be  defended  against  them  to  extremity, 
let  the  levelling  tendencies  of  the  Manchester  school  be 
repelled  afar ;  nothing  is  better  or  more  lawful.  I  can 
even  understand  how  the  Times,  somewhat  exaggerating 
the  natural  instruction  furnished  by  the  American  crisis, 
exclaims  by  way  of  conclusion  :  "  If  royalty  did  not  exist, 
we  would  be  forced  to  create  it." 

But,  this  concession  once  made  to  an  enthusiasm  which 
is  far  from  surprising  me,  are  we  not  justified  in  regret 
ting  that  we  could  not  have  deemed  it  possible  to  be  at 
once  strongly  attached  to  English  institutions  and  strongly 
sympathetic  with  the  American  cause  ? 

I  seek  in  vain  to  discover  the  incompatibility  of  the 
two  sentiments.  What !  are  the  friends  of  constitutional 
monarchy  reduced  to  living  by  the  failures  of  the  repub 
lican  system  ?  What !  if  there  should  be  somewhere  a 
prosperous  republic,  would  constitutional  monarchy  no 
longer  have  a  right  to  subsist  ? 

The  men  who  have  just  entered  their  protest  in  Eng 
land,  thank  God  !  against  the  fleeting  errors  of  public 
opinion,  are  somewhat  prouder  and  surer  of  their  convic 
tions.  As  much  attached  as  any  one  to  the  institutions, 
of  their  country,  they  know  how  to  admit  that  other 
countries  may  have  other  institutions.  If  republicans 
succeed  in  resolving  the  true  problem  of  liberty  in  Switz 
erland  or  America,  they  will  be  rejoiced  instead  of  grieved 
thereby,  and  will  be  only  the  more  devoted  to  their  mon 
archy  and  parliament.  To  them,  English  institutions  are 
not  at  the  mercy  of  events,  depending  on  the  failure  or 


HER    TRUE    MOTIVES.  133* 

success  of  some  other  form  of  government.  With  an 
assurance  that  is  not  devoid  of  pride,  they  contemplate 
their  liberal  loyalty,  their  aristocracy  always  ready  to 
sacrifice  its  prejudices  or  interests  at  need,  to  decree 
Catholic  emancipation  or  the  abolition  of  the  protective 
system,  their  powerful  nation,  in  fine,  securing  the  triumph 
of  public  opinion  through  elections,  the  press,  and  the  jury, 
and  they  challenge  the  whole  world  to  inspire  them  with 
the  desire  of  political  revolution. 

Such  has  been  the  great  motive  of  the  English  people. 
Let  us  add,  to  render  it  complete  justice,  that  upon  two 
essential  points,  sincere  prejudices,  as  unconquerable  as 
sincere,  have  formed  an  obstacle  hitherto  to  the  sympa 
thies  upon  which  America  seemed  able  to  count.  These 
prejudices,  the  value  of  which  I  shall  have  to  weigh  care 
fully  in  the  third  part  of  my  work,  must  be  mentioned  in 
this  place,  in  order  to  take  into  account  the  sum  total  of 
the  motive  powers  which  have  determined  the  attitude 
of  England. 

In  the  first  place,  the  separation  of  the  South  was  held 
at  once  to  be  definitive  and  irremediable.  This  admitted, 
a  practical  nation,  which  makes  few  theories  and  has 
great  respect,  for  facts,  was  naturally  led  to  hold  in  con 
tempt  or  even  hatred,  so  many  efforts  essayed  to  attain  a 
chimerical  end.  The  war  was  nothing  longer  but  a  crim 
inal  and  costly  folly,  in  which  it  was  impossible  to  be 
interested.  u  The  l"nkm  is  gone."  Such  was  the  oracle 
uttered  by  the  Times,  that  political  Bible  of  so  many 
Englishmen.  Thenceforth,  all  remained  convinced  that 
there  were  two  nations  in  America  instead  of  a  single  one; 
the  great  question  was  decided  in  advance  in  favor  of  the 
South  ;  its  quality  of  belligerent  appeared  reasonable, 
while  waiting  till  it  should  be  recognized. 


134*  ENGLAND. 

When  we  set  out  with  a  conviction  like  this,  we  are 
usually  little  disposed  to  accept  any  thing  which  would 
call  our  axioms  in  question,  and  force  us  to  recommence 
our  calculations.  Here  is  a  fact  accomplished  ;  let  no  one 
make  any  change  therein,  or  we  shall  be  disappointed. 

A  second  oracle,  no  less  infallible,  was  uttered,  and  its 
influence  has  been  immense. — The  North,  it  was  said,  is 
as  indifferent  to  slavery  as  the  South ;  the  point  in  ques 
tion  between  them  is  supremacy,  political  domination. 

This  once  granted,  the  consequences  unfolded  of 
themselves.  The  great  liberal  and  Christian  party  re 
mained  immovable,  the  men  most  known  for  their  aboli 
tion  sentiments  openly  refused  to  call  or  preside  over 
meetings  against  the  South.  This  forbearance  was  car 
ried  so  far  that  prayers  began  to  be  offered  for  the  success 
of  the  most  iniquitous  compromises,  the  peace  conference, 
and  the  Crittenden  measure.  Through  misapprehension 
of  America,  England  had  ceased  to  be  England. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   TRENT. 

OUR  study  would  remain  incomplete  if  we  did  not 
glance  at  the  incident  which  lately  had  nearly  produced 
a  rupture  between  England  and  the  United  States.  It  is 
precisely  because  the  Trent  affair  is  ended  that  it  is  im 
portant  to  treat  of  it ;  we  are  sure  of  doing  so  now  dis 
passionately.  And  what  instruction  it  has  to  furnish  us ! 
Nothing  could  replace  it  in  this  respect.  Here  alone  we 
have  before  us  facts  and  not  conjectures  ;  here  alone  we 
see  unfolded  with  freedom,  and  in  some  sort  with  sin 
cerity,  the  policy  adopted  at  the  beginning  of  the  crisis. 
Thanks  to  the  Trent  affair,  we  know  where  it  leads,  what 
consequences  it  accepts,  and  to  what  sentiments  it  appeals. 

The  Trent  affair  casts  a  brilliant  light  upon  the  value 
of  principles  and  importance  of  interests  which  are  sacri 
ficed  by  mistaking  them.  As  truly  as  justice  begets  peace, 
so  truly  does  it  lead  to  war — the  expression  is  not  strong 
enough — to  the  state  of  war,  to  lasting  and  long-lived  ha 
treds,  where  right  is  trodden  under  foot  and  violence  is 
done  to  sympathies. 

I  shall  take  care,  therefore,  not  to  neglect  a -subject 
of  such  prime  importance.  If  the  question  concerned  the 


130  ENGLAND. 

past  alone,  it  might  be,  perhaps,  neglected,  although  the 
lessons  of  the  past  have  their  value;  but  the  future  is  also 
in  question.  The  Trent  affair,  which  had  nearly  been 
the  means  of  universal  destruction,  may  be  the  providen 
tial  means  of  universal  safety.  It  has  been,  as  it  were,  a 
great  liquidation  of  the  English  policy  in  America.  Mat 
ters  have  been  explained,  men  have  seen  where  they  were 
going,  practical  conclusions  have  been  abruptly  brought 
into  comparison  with  theories.  The  two  countries,  at  the 
same  time,  have  learned  to  know  each  other  better ;  in 
stead  of  the  loose  government  which  had  been  depicted 
to  us,  we  have  encountered  at  Washington  an  enlighten 
ed,  prudent  administration,  very  far  from  receiving  its 
orders  from  the  mob.  In  learning  to  distrust  the  descrip 
tions  presented  to  it,  English  opinion  has  reconquered  its 
full  liberty  of  judgment.  Who  knows  whether  the  sup 
pression  of  the  rebellion  be  really  impossible  ?  Who 
knows  whether  slavery  be  not  really  in  question  ?  All 
sorts  of  interrogations  are  made,  the  awakening  is  effect 
ed,  the  true  England  has  appeared. 

It  was  time  to  awake.  After  having  believed  for  a 
year  that  it  would  be  called  upon  only  to  pout  at  America, 
it  suddenly  perceived  that  the  question  was  to  declare 
war  against  it ;  an  ultimatum  had  just  set  out  for 
Washington. 

Between  great,  between  sister  nations,  this  was  a 
strange  beginning.  It  is  scarcely  the  usage,  as  the  word 
itself  implies,  to  begin  with  an  ultimatum  •  that  is,  to  be 
gin  with  the  end.  Usually,  when  there  has  been  a  mis 
understanding,  an  act  to  be  regretted,  especially  when  this 
act  involves  a  part  of  the  right  of  nations  which  is  still 
obscure,  the  natural  beginning  is  a  demand  for  explana 
tion  of  intentions,  and  of  reparation  of  wrong,  without 
coupling  it  with  an  immediate  menace  of  rupture. 


THE    TRENT.  131 

I  am  not  ignorant  that  Lord  Russell  by  his  recom 
mendations,  and  Lord  Lyons  by  his  measures,  softened,  as 
much  as  possible,  the  odious  character  of  the  ultimatum. 
Public  opinion,  moreover,  was  aroused  in  Europe  with 
unforeseen  rapidity ;  the  precipitation  of  the  measures 
adopted  at  London  was  judged  severely  ;  the  clause  con 
cerning  apology  was  also  abandoned  in  fact.  But  it  is  no 
less  incredible  that  it  figured  in  the  original  programme. 
Little  children  are  made  to  ask  pardon,  the  humiliation 
of  apology  is  inflicted  on  countries  without  regular  gov 
ernment,  on  Turks  and  savages  ;  between  nations  which 
respect  each  other  mutually,  it  is  always  deemed  sufficient 
satisfaction  to  repair  the  wrong  and  deny  the  hostile 
intention. 

Certain  English  journals  have  maintained  that  Europe 
approved  of  these  summary  proceedings !  Just  the  contrary 
is  true.  On  seeing  such  haste  and  so  haughty  a  proclama 
tion  of  indisputable  exigence,  on  seeing  the  idea  of  an 
impious  war  accepted  with  so  much  readiness  by  some, 
and  so  much  ill  dissembled  joy  by  others,  Europe  declared 
without  circumlocution  or  reserve,  that  if  England  were  not 
miraculously  rescued  from  her  own  enterprise,  if  she  drew 
the  sword  against  the  North  in  the  capacity  of  an  ally  of 
the  South,  she  would  destroy  with  her  own  hands  her 
chief  claim  to  the  respect  of  the  civilized  world. 

The  language  on  this  point  was  the  same  at  Paris, 
Berlin,  St.  Petersburg,  Vienna,  and  Turin.  As  they  were 
unanimous  in  deciding  the  technical  question  of  right 
against  America,  so  were  they  unanimous  in  deciding  the 
moral  question  against  England.  To  recognize  the  tech 
nical  right  in  favor  of  England,  was  to  recognize  the 
right  of  neutrals  against  her.  Who  is  simple  enough  to 
be  astonished  at  the  eagerness  displayed  here  by  the 


132  ENGLAND. 

other  powers?  But  English  demands  gained  little  in 
general  opinion  by  taking  the  wounding  form  of  an  ulti 
matum,  even  though  the  most  courteous  of  ultimatums." 

This  form  would  be  justifiable  only  in  a  single  case — 
that  of  a  premeditated  insult  to  the  English  flag.  The 
Morning  Post  is  so  conscious  of  this  that  it  has  endeav 
ored  to  propagate,  in  England  and  elsewhere,  absurd 
tales  which  for  a  moment  almost  passed  for  realities : 
The  United  States  are  seeking  a  pretext  to  declare  war 
against  England  !  This  is  evident  from  the  policy  of  Mr. 
Seward !  Being  unable  to  succeed  with  the  South,  he 
has  resolved  to  stretch  a  helping  hand  to  it,  and  to  seal 
the  new  friendship  by  a  common  invasion  of  Canada. 

Thus,  the  question  of  right,  insufficient  to  explain  the 
despatch  of  an  ultimatum,  disappears  behind  another 
grave  question.  The  act  of  Captain  Wilkes  ceases  to  be 
any  thing  else  than  the  last  of  a  series  of  hostile  measures, 
designed  to  bring  about  a  war.  A  little  sooner  or  a  little 
later — what  mattered  it  thenceforth  ?  Was  it  not  bet 
ter  to  foil  American  Machiavelism  ?  Was  it  not  wise 
to  choose  one's  own  time,  instead  of  awaiting  inevitable 
aggression  ? 

To  support  these  fine  fancies,  people  were  not  con 
tent  with  accumulating  a  host  of  grievances  and  signs ; 
they  affirmed  that  the  seizure  of  the  commissioners  on 
board  the  English  packet  had  been  deliberated  in  council, 
and  thus,  as  it  were,  erected  into  a  system.  "  See  the 
James  Adger,"  they  exclaimed,  "  despatched  to  do  in  the 
very  waters  of  Europe  what  the  San  Jacinto  has  done  in 
the  waters  of  Cuba  !" 

Now,  it  is  found,  not  only  that  it  had  never  occurred 
to  any  one  to  seize  the  commissioners  on  board  an  Eng 
lish  packet,  but  that  the  San  Jacinto  had  acted  thus  simply 
because,  returning  from  Africa,  she  was  totally  without 


THE    TRENT.  133 

instructions,  and  furthermore,  that  the  James  Adger  had 
been  ordered  to  arrest  the  commissioners  in  European 
waters  solely  on  the  supposition  that  they  had  embarked 
in  the  Nashville,  a  vessel  belonging  to  the  rebels. 

The  question  of  right  remains  stripped  of  its  covering, 
without  the  least  aggravating  circumstance  of  a  nature  to 
excuse  the  immediate  despatch  of  an  ultimatum.  But 
the  question  was  so  important !  the  act  of  Captain  Wilkes 
was  of  such  enormity  !  Upon  an  ordinary  infraction  of 
international  rules,  we  might  have  entered  into  negotia 
tions,  listened  to  explanations,  if  necessary,  admitted  an 
arbitrament,  in  line,  awaited  the  failure  of  the  first  meas 
ures  betbre  having  recourse  to  extremities ;  but  after  an 
infraction  so  extraordinary,  it  was  proper  that  the  first 
message  addressed  to  Lord  Lyons  should  contain  the  con 
ditional  order  to  demand  his  passports  ! 

3Ien  must  hold  us  in  derision  to  use  such  language  to 
us;  they  must  suppose  that  we  have  forgotten  our  mod 
ern  history,  and  particularly  the  history  of  Great  Britain. 
Since  they  speak  of  enormities,  I  will  recall  the  acts  which 
merit  this  name,  and,  compared  with  which,  the  real  but 
excusable  error  of  Captain  Wilkes  bears  the  proportion 
of  a  peccadillo. 

41  We  are  no  more  immaculate  than  others,1'  wrote  the 
T'tmrs  ;  and,  having  once  made  this  confession,  it  thought 
itself  entitled  to  reject  musty  old  books  and  to  repudiate 
expedients.  It  would  be  rather  too  convenient  thus  to 
throw  off  one's  own  deeds  by  beating  his  breast  at  the 
memory  of  his  great  sins  of  the  past,  while  resolving  by 
no  means  to  pardon  his  neighbor  the  least  of  his  sins  of 
the  present !  There  was  once,  according  to  the  parable* 
of  the  Gospel,  a  servant  who  owed  his  master  ten  thou 
sand  talents  ;  the  master  had  pity  on  him,  and  forgave 
him  the  debt.  The  same  servant  went  out  and  found  one 


134  ENGLAND. 

of  his  fellow-servants  which  owed  him  a  hundred  pence, 
and  he  laid  hands  on  him  and  took  him  by  the  throat, 
saying,  "  Pay  me  that  thou  owest." 

I  am  sorry  for  England,  but  its  enormities  resemble 
those  of  Captain  Wilkes  as  the  ten  thousand  talents  resem 
ble  the  hundred  pence.  No  one  has  ever  thought  of 
quoting  English  enormities  as  precedents;  they  are  too 
disproportionate  to  the  case  in  question.  Such  acts  run 
no  risk  of  becoming  precedents,  and  there  is  not  the 
least  reason  to  fear  that  any  one  will  dream  of  invoking 
their  authority.  Violence  is  violence,  and  right  is  right. 
It  is  upon  the  ground  of  right  that  we  maintain  that  the 
Trent  affair  was  a  case  of  amicable  complaint,  and  not  of 
immediate  recourse  to  an  ultimatum  ;  our  arguments  are 
not  borrowed  from  the  old  doctrines  of  the  English  ad 
miralty.  By  the  side  of  our  doubts,  at  least  plausible,  by 
the  side  of  the  honorable  hesitation  of  Captain  Wilkes, 
the  true  enormities  would  figure  somewhat  strangely. 
Since  the  subject  has  been  broached,  I  will  cite  a  few  of 
them. 

England  has  officially  maintained  the  doctrine  of  closed 
seas,  (mare  dausum  ;)  she  has  claimed  that,  as  mistress 
of  certain  very  considerable  portions  of  the  sea,  she  has 
the  sovereign  right  to  fix  the  conditions  of  neutral  navi 
gation  therein  in  time  of  war. 

England  has  fixed  the  ceremonial  of  salutation  in  these 
seas,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  imply  an  acknowledgment  of 
the  inferiority  of  other  navies. 

She  has  seized  sailors  when  it  suited  her  on  board 
American  ships,  hesitating  neither  to  arrest  individuals 
nor  to  render  her  naval  officers  supreme  judges  in  the 
matter.  At  one  time,  by  virtue  of  an  exchange  of  orders 
in  council  and  imperial  decrees,  the  blockade  (on  paper) 
of  the  coasts  of  Europe,  and  the  blockade  (no  less  fie- 


THE    TRENT.  135 

titious)  of  the  coasts  of  England  and  all  her  colonies,  were 
proclaimed  at  London,  Berlin,  and  Milan.  England  ex 
acted  that  every  neutral  vessel,  before  repairing  to  the 
Continent,  should  touch  at  her  ports ;  while  Napoleon, 
on  his  side,  declared  all  vessels  denationalized  which  had 
entered  English  harbors.  It  was  then  the  United  States, 
in  consequent  despair,  passed  llieAct  of  Embargo  and  the 
Non-Intercourse  Hill. 

These  are  deserving  the  name  of  enormities.  And  it 
would  be  easy  to  swell  the  number  ;  the  story  is  long.* 
When  America,  weary  at  last  of  her  system  of  embargo, 
commenced  her  war  of  1812,  more  than  nine  hundred  of 
her  vessels  had  been  seized.  I  add  that  at  the  peace  of 
Ghent,  Great  Britain  refused  to  withdraw  her  pretensions 
and  disavow  her  doctrines. 

Let  us  cease  therefore  to  pretend  that  the  act  of  Cap 
tain  Wilkes  is  an  enormity  without  equal.  We  know 
now  how  thi>  matter  stands. 

Then;  is  in  it  simply  a  fact  to  be  regretted,  opening 
the  way  to  a  legitimate  demand  for  reparation.  Cap 
tain  Wilkes,  who  erred,  erred  in  sincerity,  and  nothing 
in  his  conduct  justifies  the  excessive  indignation  which  we 
have  witnessed.  The  Trent,  moreover,  was  really  in  the 
wrong;  and,  if  opinions  are  divided  on  this  point,  it  is  no 
less  certain  that  the  evidence  is  not  complete,  since  there 
is  a  division  of  opinions. 

Behold,  on  one  hand,  an  English  packet  whose  fidelity 
to  neutral  obligations  may  be  at  least  contested  ;  on  the 

*  See  Ortolon,  Diplomatic  de  la  mcr,  tome  II.,  pp.  95,  111,  121, 
122,  128,  131,  183,  13t>,  137,  172,  173,  300,  320-331. 

See  also  in  the  Blue  Books  of  this  year,  the  details  of  the  Canstadt 
affair.  This  Ls  quite  another  thing  from  the  affair  of  the  Trent. 


136  ENGLAND. 

other,  an  American  vessel  that  has  exceeded  its  rights. 
In  such  a  case,  the  path  is  ready  traced,  and,  to  begin  by 
a  rupture,  one  cannot  be  wholly  averse  to  war. 

Do  not  fear — I  shall  cite  neither  Grotius,  nor  Puffen- 
dorf,  nor  Vattel,  nor  Burlamaqui.  I  am  not  a  juriscon 
sult,  although  I  have  studied  legal  points  like  others, 
and  the  debates  of  the  Council  of  State  have  familiar 
ized  me  with  this  sort  of  discussions.  Let  us  lay  aside 
the  rubbish  of  schools  and  use  the  language  of  common 
sense. 

I  begin  by  establishing  one  point — men  are  not  con 
traband  of  war.  With  the  exception  of  military  men — 
and  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell  did  not  act  in  this  capacity — 
no  person  could  have  been  lawfully  seized,  even  supposing 
the  packet  to  have  been  brought,  according  to  rule,  before 
a  prize  court.  The  doctrine  of  Man-despatches  is  the 
weak  side  of  the  American  argument.  In  such  a  matter, 
it  is  not  permissible  to  extend  by  force  of  reasoning,  or 
even  a  fortiori,  the  categories  fixed  by  the  law  of  nations. 
"Despatches  are  contraband  of  war;  therefore,  and  for 
the  strongest  reason,  ambassadors,  which  are  living  de 
spatches,  are  so  likewise."  This  argument  cannot  be  ad 
mitted.  If  Sir  William  Scott  has  declared  lawful  the 
seizure  of  ambassadors,  it  is  not  under  the  neutral  flag, 
but  under  the  flag  or  on  the  soil  of  the  enemy.  In  fine, 
the  principle  involved  here  is  of  real  importance  ;  the 
question,  in  fact,  is  nothing  less  than  the  right  of  asylum, 
which  would  be  endangered  if  the  arrest  of  persons  could 
be  effected  under  the  neutral  flag.  Here,  let  it  be  loudly 
proclaimed,  all  are  secure,  common  criminals  and  politi 
cal  criminals,  assassins  and  rebels.  This  is  true,  and  it  is 
important  that  it  should  be  so. 

Another  point,  too,  should  be  conceded  without  hesi 
tation  :  no  one  is  authorized  to  execute  justice  with  his 


THE    TREXT.  137 

own  hands.  The  formality  of  a  judgment  is  no  trifling 
thing — it  is  the  common  guarantee  of  all  civilized  nations. 
I  am  far,  indeed,  from  arraigning  Captain  Wilkes,  who  is 
among  the  most  distinguished  and  most  scholarly  officers 
of  the  United  States,  and  was  the  commander  of  one  of 
the  iiiiest  scientific  expeditions  ever  made  ;  I  comprehend 
how  he  fell  into  the  error — he  has  paid  for  our  instruction. 
I  comprehend  also  how  strong  was  the  temptation  to 
arrest  these  commissioners  as  they  passed  before  his  eyes, 
announcing  that  they  were  hound  for  Europe  to  seek 
every  possible  means  of  destroying  the  common  country. 
But  the  error  of  Mr.  Wilkc-s  was  of  importance.  In  his 
desire  as  little  as  possible  to  aggravate  the  inconvenience 
to  the  Trent  and  her  passengers,  with  a  disinterestedness  for 
which  he  should  receive  credit,  he  took  it  upon  himself  to 
decide  alone  a  question  that  belonged  to  the  courts.  It 
was  something  as  if  a  policeman,  on  arresting  a  suspicious 
person,  should  say  :  "  My  friend,  the  magistrate  lives  a 
great  way  off;  to  take  you  before  him  will  detain  you, 
and  put  you  to  great  inconvenience.  Rather  than  subject 
you  to  all  this  trouble,  I  will  give  up  the  reward  I  should 
obtain  for  apprehending  you,  and  proceed  at  once  to 
chastise  you  myself  upon  the  spot"  It  is  essential  that 
we  should  be  inconvenienced  for  the  sake  of  a  regular 
judgment.  The  business  of  policemen  and  sea  captains 
— pardon  me  the  comparison — is  confined  to  taking  sus 
picious  persons  before  a  competent  magistrate.  I  am  not 
surprised  that  England  and  America  should  have  been 
found  agreed  upon  this  point  at  the  end  of  the  reckoning. 
In  England,  the  legal  advisers  of  the  Crown  declared  from 
the  iirst  that  the  vessel  should  have  been  stopped  and 
carried  before  a  court.  In  America,  Mr.  Seward  acknowl 
edged  that  this  complaint  was  at  once  well  founded  and 
important.  The  English  press  and  the  American  press — 


138  ENGLAND. 

the  London  Times  and  the  New  York  Times — have  had 
but  one  opinion  in  this  respect,  and  Mr.  Simmer,  in  his 
remarkable  speech  in  the  Senate,  repeated  in  his  turn, 
"The  packet  should  have  been  seized  and  brought  to 
trial." 

Such  have  been  the  errors  of  Captain  Wilkes.  I  have 
not  sought  to  disguise  them  ;  they  doubtless  justified  a  de 
mand  for  reparation  :  England  owed  it  to  herself  to  claim 
and  obtain  the  liberation  of  the  commissioners.  But  does 
this  signify  that  all  the  wrongs  were  on  one  side,  and  that 
the  conduct  of  the  Trent  was  not  blamable  ? 

That  despatches  are  contraband  of  war,  we  may  dis 
pense  with  demonstrating,  for  no  author  has  denied  it. 
Moreover,  the  Queen's  proclamation  is  at  hand,  which 
interdicts,  not  the  "  fraudulent "  transportation  of  de 
spatches,  but  purely  and  simply  their  transportation. 

Doubtless,  if  the  despatches  of  the  insurgent  govern 
ment  had  been  confounded  \vith  the  rest  of  the  mail  mat 
ter,  no  one  would  have  thought  of  blaming  the  command 
er  of  the  Trent,  or  of  approving  the  cruiser  who  should 
pretend  to  open  the  mail  bags  and  search  for  contraband 
of  war.  But  matters  had  gone  differently  :  Messrs.  Ma 
son  and  Slidell,  with  their  families  and  despatches,  had 
arrived  with  great  display  at  Havana,  and  thousands  of 
enthusiastic  spectators  had  greeted  the  entrance  of  the 
Theodora,  which  bore  them  thither,  with  the  Confederate 
.  flag  at  its  mast.  The  commissioners  knew  so  well  that 
what  they  were  about  to  do  would  give  cause  of  com 
plaint  to  the  United  States,  that  they  had  taken  great 
care  to  assure  themselves  of  the  disabled  condition  of  the 
Columbia,  and  of  the  departure  of  another  American 
vessel,  the  Keystone  State  /  they  did  not  count  on  the 
San  Jacinto,  then  returning  from  Africa,  As  to  any 
doubts  of  the  commander  of  the  Trent  as  to  the  nature 


THE    TRENT.  139 

of  the  despatches  which  he  was  about  to  admit  on  board 
his  vessel,  lie  knew,  with  all  Havana,  that  the  commis 
sioners  hud  been  presented  to  the  Captain-General,  (pre 
sented,  it  is  said,  by  the  English  consul;)  and  he  had  seen 
with  his  own  eyes  the  manner  in  which  they  were  escorted 
on  board  the  pack°t. 

In  the  presence  of  such  facts,  had  he  not  reason  to  call 
to  mind  the  proclamation  of  the  Queen,  forbidding  the 
transportation  of  despatches  ?  Could  he  have  reassured 
himself  by  the  argument  presented  by  a  number  of  jour 
nals  :  "The  Queen's  proclamation  is  not  a  treaty,  but  a 
municipal  regulation  ;  it  is  binding  only  on  us." 

u  Bv  no  means  !"  it  is  replied,  "  his  reasons  were  far 
better.  In  the  first  place,  a  packet  was  in  question ; 
secondly,  this  packet  was  repairing  from  one  neutral  port 
to  another  ;  what  would  become  of  us  if  all  mail  packets 
were  exposed  to  the  visits  of  cruisers,  even  on  the  coasts 
of  Europe1,  or  between  Dover  and  Calais?" 

The  answer  is  easy. 

In  the  first  place,  packets,  for  the  very  reason  that 
they  have  privileges,  among  others  that  of  continuing 
their  service  in  time  of  war,  are  bound  to  use  especial 
care  not  to  violate  in  any  respect  the  rules  of  the  most 
conscientious  neutrality.  Let  special  agreements,  more 
over,  be  concluded,  to  protect  their  sailing  and  exempt  it 
from  all  restrictions. — I  am  willing  ;  but  such  agreements 
arc  not  concluded,  and  an  agreement  to  be  concluded 
cannot  at  present  be  binding  on  America. 

The  exception  in  favor  of  ships  repairing  "from  one 
neutral  port  to  another,"  will  likewise  figure  in  agreements 
to  be  conclude^  ;  in  agreements  already  concluded,  not 
the  slightest  trace  of  such  reservation  is  to  be  found.  The 
Queen's  proclamation  ought  really  to  have  mentioned  this 
exception,  if  it  exist ;  it  would  have  then  been  known 
7 


140  ENGLAND. 

that  the  most  hostile  despatches,  those  best  known  and 
pointed  out  to  the  attention  of  the  whole  world,  might 
be  lawfully  transported,  provided  they  were  taken  from 
Havana.  Why  not  enunciate  in  formal  terms,  these  self- 
styled  simple  and  self-evident  facts?  The  evidence  of 
the  latter  leaves  it  to  be  desired,  since  it  has  not  been  sus 
pected  by  the  legal  advisers  of  the  Crowji,  and  since  the 
English  Government  has  not  said  a  word  of  it  in  its  de 
mand  for  reparation.  Mr.  Seward  was  surely  right  in 
stating  that,  while  all  the  powers  desire  neutral  rights, 
they  are  still  far  from  all  desiring  them  in  the  same  man 
ner,  and  by  virtue  of  the  same  reasons. 

Let  us  come  to  an  understanding — nothing  can  be  bet 
ter  ;  let  us  inscribe  the  exception  of  neutral  ports  in  a 
general  agreement — no  one  will  find  fault  with  it.  But, 
once  more,  let  us  not  make  of  a  plausible  and  probable, 
yet  disputable  and  disputed  opinion,  an  axiom  in  the  law 
of  nations,  and  let  us  not  apply  retroactively  to  the 
United  States  a  rule  which  iiwy  be  established  with  ad 
vantage  in  some  future  agreement. 

I  wish  to  say  a  word  here  of  the  speech  so  often  re 
peated  :  "  Intercourse  will  be  no  longer  possible  ;  naviga 
tion  must  be  interrupted  ;  there  will  be  nothing  to  hinder 
the  search  of  mail  packets  in  the  Straits  of  Calais  or  the 
Mediterranean  !" 

Affirmations  like  these  will  be  best  refuted  by  their 
absurdity.  I  know  of  no  right  which  might  not  be 
easily  converted  into  an  enormity,  if  we  amused  ourselves 
by  carrying  it  to  extremes.  Take  the  right  of  search,  for 
instance.  This  right,  you  will  admit,  does  not  take  the 
trouble  to  ask  whether  the  contraband  of  Avar  comes  from 
a  neutral  port,  for  neutral  ports  are  almost  always  those 
from  which  it  is  despatched.  So  long  as  the  regions  of 
search  be  not  limited,  so  long  as  mail  packets  be  not  ex- 


THE    TRENT.  141 

pressly  excoptcd,  so  long,  in  a  word,  as  the  general  treaty 
which  we  all  demand  be  not  negotiated.  American  cruis 
ers  will,  strictly,  have  the  right  to  search  our  merchant 
vessels  on  the  very  coasts  of  Europe. 

They  have  this  right,  but  they  will  not  exercise  it. 
Why  not  ?  Because  there  is  still  something  in  the  world, 
thank  God,  called  common  sense,  and  because  it  is  the 
special  mission  of  common  sense  to  set  bounds  between 
the  exercise  of  right  and  its  abuse.  By  virtue  of  common 
sense,  the  American  cruisers,  which  make  no  search  in  the 
Mediterranean,  will  trouble  themselves  no  more  about 
despatches  passing  between  Dover  and  Calais. 

In  fact,  observe  that  packet  navigation  has  never  been 
obstructed,  even  in  American  waters  ;  an  extreme  case, 
an  embassy  despatched  with  eclat,  despatches  of  excep 
tional  importance,  a  hostile  act  particularly  dangerous, 
were  needed  for  a  single  American  cruiser  (and  this  with 
out  instructions)  to  institute  a  search  for  a  single  time  on 
board  neutral  vessels.  I  think,  therefore,  that  we  may  let 
hypotheses  rest,  and  feel  secure  concerning  postal  relations. 

If  the  question  were  still  of  practical  importance,  it 
\vould  be  proper  to  examine  here,  from  the  stand-point 
of  the  existing  war,  the  character  of  the  ports  of  departure 
and  arrival.  The  Trent  was  bearing  despatches  to  a  neu- 
tral  port  !  Yes,  but  the  American  struggle  has  this  pecu 
liarity,  that  all  the  chances  of  the  South  are  in  Europe, 
and  that  its  despatches  sent  to  a  neutral  country  are,  of 
all  others,  the  most  important  to  stop  on  the  way.  The 
Trent  had  taken  its  despatches  from  a  neutral  port !  Yes, 
but  they  did  not  originate  there;  they  had  come  in  the 
sight  and  with  the  knowledge  of  the  whole  world,  from 
the  very  capital  of  the  insurgents !  Besides,  what  is  Ha 
vana  ?  Open  a  map,  and  you  will  see  that  Havana  is  near 
the  lower  end  of  Florida,  at  the  point  of  intersection  of 


142  ENGLAND. 

the  routes  to  New  Orleans  and  Charleston.  It  is  the 
rendezvous  of  all  the  small  craft  which  have  escaped  the 
blockade,  or  are  intending  to  run  it.  It  is  the  admitted 
place  of  transshipment,  the  great  harbor  of  the  South. 
Vessels  of  light  draught,  gliding  through  the  thousand  in 
lets  which  riddle  the  Southern  coast,  arrive  daily  at  Ha 
vana,  or  other  points  of  the  island  of  Cuba.  They  dare 
not  go  further.  There,  the  vessels  are  fitted  up  anew,  and 
what  was  begun  by  night  under  the  Southern  flag  is  con 
tinued  in  broad  daylight  under  European  colors.  Read 
the  story  of  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidcll's  adventures  in  the 
Charleston  Mercury.  They  set  out  from  Charleston  in  a 
dark,  rainy  night,  on  a  small  steamer,  the  Theodora;  by 
favor  of  steam  and  the  darkness,  they  escaped  the  block 
ade  and  landed  at  Havana;  when,  suddenly,  the  scene 
changed,  the  escapade  became  a  triumphal  inarch,  com 
missioners  and  despatches  were  installed  on  board  the 
English  packet,  regarding  themselves  safe  from  all  dan 
ger ! 

I  have  written  the  preceding  with  the  last  despatch  of 
Lord  Russell  under  my  eyes.  Coming  late,  on  the  23d 
of  January,  after  long  reflection,  it  seems  to  me  of  all 
things  best  fitted  to  confnm  my  principal  observation; 
namely,  the  obscurity  of  the  question  at  the  moment  of 
Captain  Wilkes'  action  ;  and  consequently,  the  relative 
innocence  of  this  act. 

The  English  Government  has  since  studied  the  subject 
like  the  rest  of  us.  Researches  and  experiences  have 
been  made  between  the  first  and  the  last  note  of  the 
Foreign  Office.  If  it  had  been  as  wise  in  the  month  of 
November  as  it  is  now,  nothing  would  have  been  easier 
than  to  have  enunciated  the  proposition  on  the  spot, 
"  There  can  be  no  contraband  of  war  between  neutral 


THE    TRENT.  143 

ports."  M.  Thouvenel  alone  has  had  the  credit  of  adopt 
ing  this  position. 

This  axiom  in  itself  is  reasonable.  I  beg  that  it  may 
enter  ere  long,  in  clear  and  formal  terms,  into  interna 
tional  agreements.  Only,  I  maintain  that  it  has  not  been 
found  in  them  hitherto,  and  that  doubt  was  permissible  in 
America,  since  error  was  possible  in  England.  Do  you 
remember  the  fairy  tales,  in  which  a  frightful  giant  gives 
the  hero  an  obscure  riddle  to  guess  on  the  spot  under 
pain  of  death  ?  Were  the  United  States  to  divine  at  the 
first  glance  the  diplomatic  riddle  of  contraband  of  war, 
under  penalty  of  entering  into  immediate  war  with  Eng 
land  ? 

But  the  despatch  of  the  2nd  of  January,  while  involv 
ing  the  argument  of  3F.  Thouvenel,  develops  before  all 
another,  which  shows  to  what  subtleties  the  discussion  of 
a  point  of  law  may  give  rise,  though  declared,  more 
over,  to  be  as  clear  as  the  light  of  day. 

Lord  Russell  begins  bv  laying  down  the  principle  that 
the  South  is  a  belligerent,  and  that  the  United  States 
cannot  regard  it  in  any  other  point  of  view.  This  axiom 
established,  demonstrates  that  both  the  two  contending 
powers  have  the  right  to  preserve  relations  with  neutral 
countries.  It  thence  follows  that  neutral  countries  are 
authorized  to  send  them  ambassadors  and  despatches,  and 
that  the  contending  parties  are  likewise  authorized  to 
send  ambassadors  and  despatches  to  neutral  countries. 
By  what  right  can  despatches  addressed  to  neutrals  be 
considered  hostile  ? 

This  is  admirable  logic,  but  the  United  States  have 
never  admitted  the  South  to  be  a  belligerent,  and  I  do 
not  think  that  Europe,  which  adopts  for  herself  this  way 
of  seeing,  pretends  to  impose  it  on  them.  The  South, 
therefore,  is  simply  a  rebel  in  the  sight  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 


144  ENGLAND. 

What  become  thenceforth  of  all  the  reasonings  of  the 
despatch  of  January  23d?  Can  an  insurgent  fraction  of 
a  country  maintain  lawful  diplomatic  relations  with  neu 
trals  ?  What  can  these  despatches  contain  which  will 
not  be  treason  ?  As  it  is  true  that  the  ambassadors  and 
despatches  of  a  belligerent  have  a  legitimate  end  in  a 
neutral  country,  so  is  it  clear  that  the  ambassadors  and 
despatches  of  rebels  cannot  have  a  legitimate  end  therein. 
If  you  doubt  this,  interrogate  your  own  heart,  ask  what 
were  your  sensations  at  this  mission  of  Messrs.  Mason 
and  Slidell,  sent  to  seek  in  Europe  the  ruin  of  their  country. 

What  is  my  conclusion  ?  That  Captain  Wilkcs  was 
right  ?  I  have  said  the  contrary.  My  conclusion  is  that 
the  question  of  right  is  not  so  clear  as  has  been  pictured, 
and  that  the  wrong  has  been  in  some  measure  divided. 
It  comprises,  according  to  the  expression  of  Mr.  Seward, 
"  rules  imperfectly  known  and  imperfectly  understood." 

The  liberty  and  lives  of  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell 
run  no  risk  in  any  case.  Supposing  an  arbitration  to  have 
been  admitted,  it  is  certain  that  the  first  condition  would 
have  been  the  transferral  of  the  commissioners  into  the 
hands  of  the  arbiter,  and  it  is  no  less  certain,  (the  com 
mendable  passion  of  Europe  for  the  rights  of  neutrals  is 
well  enough  known,)  that  the  first  act  of  the  arbiter,  who 
ever  it  were,  would  have  been  to  command  their  libera 
tion.  The  only  means  of  exposing  Messrs.  Mason  and 
Slidell  to  real  danger,  would  have  been  to  break  with 
the  United  States.  Transported  into  the  interior,  and 
remaining  in  the  power  of  a  people  exasperated  by  its 
extreme  danger,  they  would  have  been  guarded,  and  well 
guarded,  without  doubt,  by  the  honor  of  the  Americans; 
nevertheless,  it  would  not  have  been  easy  to  banish  all 
anxiety. 

I  have  spoken  of  arbitration,  not  because  I  believe  in 


THE   TRENT.  145 

the  necessity  of  recurring  to  it — a  firm  and  amicable 
negotiation  has  alwavs  seemed  to  me  sufficient  for  the 

O  ••' 

arrangement  of  diiferences ;  but  I  have  seen,  like  all 
others,  in  the  pains  that  have  been  taken  in  advance  to 
discard  arbitration,  the  manifestation  of  a  thought  that 
the  arrangement  of  the  difference  would  give  indifferent 
satisfaction. 

This  thought  did  not  la.-t ;  nevertheless  it  existed, 
and  constituted  one  of  the  most  deplorable  facts  of  our 
time. 

'•  Before  all,  no  arbiters !  A  blow  admits  of  no  arbitra 
tion  ;  we  have  received  a  blow!  Arbitration  is  designed 
to  resolve  difficulties,  only  when  the  litigious  question  has 
not  been  prejudged  by  hostile  acts;  there  has  been  ag 
gression,  \var  is  begun,  our  territory  is  in  some  sort  in 
vaded  !  Where,  moreover,  are  arbiters  to  be  found  ?  All 
Europe  has  declared  its  sentiments !  " 

Thus  because  a  naval  officer  had  been  honestly  mis 
taken,  an  insult,  a  blow  had  been  offered  ;  because  the 
arbiters  were  too  favorable  to  England,  and  England  was 
too  sure  that  they  would  decide  in  her  favor,  England 
hastened  to  except  to  them. 

It  is  useless  to  recall  the  fact  that  many  powers  had 
not  yet  declared  themselves,  and  might  have  played  the 
part  of  arbiters:  Sweden,  Denmark,  Portugal,  Holland, 
Switzerland.  To  discuss  these  objections  would  be  to  do 
them  too  much  honor.  I  have  only  wished  to  state  them. 
A  part  of  England  seemed  then  to  say — "  Leave  us  our 
Avar  ;  you  would  decide  in  our  favor,  but  that  matters 
little  ;  you  would  set  the  commissioners  at  liberty,  but 
that  is  the  least  of  our  cares  ;  we  want  war  and  nothing 
else." 

Mark  that,  five  years  before,  in  the  Paris  Congress, 
Lord  Clarendon  proposed  the  rule  of  arbitration  as  "a 


146  ENGLAND. 

barrier  to  those  conflicts  which  not  nnfrcqncntly  break 
out  only  because  of  the  impossibility  of  offering  explana 
tions  or  of  coming  to  an  understanding."  The  question, 
thus  introduced  by  the  English  Government,  was  earnestly 
debated,  and  so  much  importance  was  attached  to  it  that 
the  vote  was  postponed  for  two  days,  until  Count  Orloif 
could  obtain  by  telegraph  the  definitive  adhesion  of  Rus 
sia.  Behold  the  unanimous  declaration,  to  which  the 
United  States  assented  on  the  spot : 

"The  plenipotentiaries  do  not  hesitate  to  express  the 
wish,  in  the  name  of  their  governments,  that  States  be 
tween  which  serious  dissensions  may  arise,  shall  have  re 
course  to  the  good  offices  of  a  friendly  power,  as  far  as 
circumstances  permit,  before  appealing  to  arms." 

On  what  occasion,  I  ask,  will  this  salutary  rule  find  ap 
plication,  if  inapplicable  here  ?  The  conflict  was  on  the 
point  of  breaking  out  because  it  had  been  impossible  to 
offer  explanations  or  to  come  to  an  understanding;  the 
dissension  was  serious;  the  circumstances  permitted  re 
course  to  a  friendly  power.  Was  Europe  derided  in 
1850  ?  Was  there  fear  of  losing  an  occasion  of  war  in 
1861  ?  I  express  myself  with  the  more  freedom,  that  the 
England  of  1802  is  not  that  of  1861.  Of  these  two  Eng- 
lands,  the  better,  thank  God,  has  just  taken  the  lead. 

That  this  sudden  change  is  held  for  naught  in  London, 
and  that  men  reason  now,  in  the  best  possible  faith,  as  if 
they  had  not  been  so  lately  disposed  to  fall  upon  the 
United  States,  to  strike  hands  with  the  South,  and  to  give 
the  signal  for  an  unnatural  war  which  would  have  brought 
forth  many  others,  I  care  not ;  but  we  who  cling  to 
peace  and  love  the  cause  of  liberty,  are  forced  to  have  a 
longer  memory,  were  it  only  to  prevent  the  return  of  one 
of  these  experiences,  so  cavalierly  glided  over,  in  which 
civilization  itself  would  be  in  danger  of  perishing. 


THE    TRENT.  147 

To-day,  thanks  to  the  great  change  which  has  been 
wrought  in  Europe,  and  to  which  the  public  opinion  of 
Europe  has  not  been  a  stranger,  a  pacific  course  is  estab 
lished  ;  the  passions  of  yesterday  have  died  out ;  the  true 
English  nation  has  greeted  with  enthusiasm  the  peaceful 
news  from  Washington  ;  Lord  Russell  has  hastened  to  ac 
cept  the  liberation  without  insisting  on  apologies,  he  has 
congratulated  Lord  Lyons  for  having  so  closely  followed 
his  private  instructions  and  surrounded  a  discourteous 
proceeding  with  so  much  friendly  courtesy,  he  has  con 
gratulated  the  American  Government  for  having  so  nobly 
surmounted  the  difficulties  of  its  part. 

We,  too,  may  congratulate  the  English  nation  and 
its  ministers.  That  people  is  great  in  which  faults  com 
mitted  are  repaired  in  this  wise,  and  in  which  the  public 
sense  of  right  thus  makes  itself  obeyed. 

Already,  before  the  incident  of  the  Trent,  Lord  Stan 
ley  had  uttered  this  almost  prophetic  warning:  "  It  is  the 
duty  of  our  government  not  to  suffer  itself  to  be  irritated 
OTI  account  of  accidental  molestations,  such  as  it  must  ex 
pect  to  receive  in  the  course  of  such  a  struggle."  At  the 
very  height  of  the  irritation  caused  by  the  Trent  affair, 
another  voice  was  raised.  A  simple  society  appeared; 
and  we  felt  at  once  that  evil  passions  were  about  to  re 
cede  before  a  superior  power.  P^or  my  part,  I  admire  the 
victories  of  the  mind  far  more  than  those  of  the  bayonet 
or  bullet.  A  few  almost  unknown  men  present  an  ad 
dress  to  the  prime  minister,  and  the  terrified  world 
breathes  again;  although  it  is  not  yet  known  what  will 
be  the  decision  of  America,  it  is  thenceforth  known  that 
the  cause  is  judged,  for  England  has  regained  her  path 
and  will  never  more  wander  from  it.  ITow  true  were  the 
words  of  ibe  Anti- Slavery  Society:  "Such  an  undertaking 
on  the  part  of  England  would  not  only  be  most  huniili- 


148  ENGLAND. 

ating,  but  would  lamentably  contradict  her  past  efforts 
and  former  sacrifices  for  the  liberty  of  slaves ;  it  would 
expose  her  protests  to  the  reproach  of  hypocrisy  from  the 
rest  of  the  world  ;  it  would  destroy  her  claim  and  close 
her  lips  henceforth  to  every  appeal  addressed  to  the  intel 
ligence  and  conscience  of  other  nations.  *  *  *  * 
The  members  of  the  Society  experience  inexpressible  hor 
ror  and  repugnance  at  the  thought  of  seeing  their  country 
engaged  in  a  war,  the  virtual  end  of  which  would  be  the 
defence  of  slavery !" 

What  Lord  Stanley  said  in  the  political  point  of  view, 
what  the  Anti-Slavery  Society  said  in  the  moral  point  of 
view,  all  repeat  to-day.  Truth  spreads  quickly,  and  those 
who  lately  combated  it  with  the  greatest  violence  and 
disdain,  are  none  the  less  eager  to  proclaim  it  from  the 
house-tops.  It  is  one  of  the  traits  of  the  English  charac 
ter  that  it  is  not  long  embarrassed  by  inconsistencies. 
Men  stray  from  the  right  path,  and  return  to  it,  perhaps 
only  to  wander  from  it  again,  and  all  this  is  accomplished 
with  perfect  assurance. 

When  you  read  an  article  from  a  journal,  recommend 
ing  patience  toward  America,  rebuking  those  inclined  to 
contest  the  blockade,  and  demonstrating  that  the  manu 
facturing  crisis  proceeds  from  a  previous  excess  of  produc 
tion  more  than  from  a  scarcity  of  cotton,  do  not  be  greatly 
astonished  to  discover  that  this  journal  is  the  Times^  or 
even  the  Morning  Post  ! 

So  goes  the  world.  If  less  care  be  taken  in  England 
than  elsewhere  to  cover  over  changes  of  opinion,  it  is  not 
because  there  is  less  change  elsewhere.  I  like  this  lack 
of  caution  ;  it  is  to  me  a  sign  of  strength  and  proof  of 
frankness.  At  heart,  the  English,  in  expressing  their 
present  convictions,  are  fully  conscious,  and  they  are  not 
wrong,  that  these  convictions  are  their  own.  They  have 


THE    TRENT.  153 

prejudices  and  errors  to  be  overthrown.  Truth  has  one 
great  power — reconciliation. 

This  is  why  I  have  attached  importance  to  presenting 
in  a  book  which  will,  I  know,  be  translated  and  read  in 
America,  an  impartial  estimate  of  the  character  of  the 
English  people.  I  have  admitted  into  it  neither  flattery 
nor  hostility.  It  seems  to  me  that  it  offers  the  picture 
of  a  generous  nation  that  may  for  a  moment  have  gone 
astray,  have  set  itself  against  a  cause  that  was  not  its 
own,  and  have  been  drawn  into  anger,  passion,  almost 
into  war,  but  whose  return  to  good  has  the  energy  and 
surety  of  the  acts  of  the  human  conscience.  The  day  that 
America  shall  see  England  in  this  light,  namely,  as  she 
is,  a  vast  improvement  will  be  effected  in  the  relations  of 
the  two  continents. 

To  make  them  understand  each  other,  there  is  no  need 
to  pile  uj)  phrases.  Lying  declamations  can  do  nothing  but 
harm ;  I  have  faith  in  truth. 

I  have  also  taken  care  not  to  adopt  the  truly  strange 
explanation  by  which  England  is  now  endeavoring  to  set 
her  late  conduct  in  a  favorable  light.  She  lavishes  eulo 
gies  on  Lord  Palmerston ;  she  repeats  in  every  key  that 
no  one  really  desired  war  ;  that  the  ultimatum,  the  de 
mand  for  apologies,  the  precautions  taken  in  advance 
against  possible  arbitration,  the  preparations  for  imme 
diate  war,  the  announced  recognition  of  the  South,  were 
simply  the  surest  proceedings  to  obtain  peace. 

May  God  preserve  us  from  this  sort  of  peace-makers ! 
They  pretend  that  they  have  ensured  peace  by  their  firm 
ness  !  Let  them  tell  this  to  those  who  have  not  followed 
their  policy  for  the  past  year,  and  who  have  not  foreseen, 
foreseen  with  absolute  certainty,  the  occurrence  of  a 
Trent  affair  under  some  form  or  other,  before  spring.  If 
this  policy  be  left  behind,  if  it  have  given  way  before  a 


154  ENGLAND. 

better  influence,  it  is  not  fully  enough  proved  that  it  may 
not  some  clay  reappear,  to  permit  us  to  treat  it  with  com 
plaisance,  and  to  glorify  what  we  should  curse. 

No  !  you  did  not  desire  peace,  for  you  believed  for  a 
moment  in  war,  and  this  horrible  chance  was  accepted  by 
you  with  calmness.  In  the  hour  of  distress  of  a  kindred 
people,  and  for  a  difference  easily  arranged  by  pacific 
means,  you  left  nothing  undone  to  excite  acute  suscepti 
bilities,  and  render  the  conflict  inevitable. 

Such  is  the  real  truth,  on  which  it  is  useful  to  reflect 
in  order  that  no  one  may  take  a  fancy  to  plunge  us  again 
with  cruel  heedlessness  into  similar  perils.  That  peace 
has  been  preserved,  is  due,  next  to  God  who  had  pity  on 
you  and  us,  to  the  good  sense  arid  patriotism  of  the  Amer 
ican  people.  A  distinction  must  be  made  here  between 
although  and  because.  Peace  has  been  maintained,  al 
though  England  threatened  it ;  it  would  have  been  main 
tained  a  hundred  times  more  surely  if  the  remarks  ad 
dressed  by  England  to  Washington  had  been  as  amicable 
as  firm  in  their  tone,  if  she  had  entertained  the  same 
spirit  with  Mr.  Seward's  despatch  of  the  30th  of  Novem 
ber,  if,  at  need,  she  had  nobly  condescended  to  admit 
the  transfer  of  the  commissioners  into  the  hands  of  a 
third  power.  In  any  case,  the  liberation  was  certain ;  in 
any  case,  the  interpretation  of  the  right  of  nations  in  favor 
of  England  was  certain ;  in  any  case,  peace  was  certain. 
It  is  true  that  this  last  point  would  have  disappointed 
some  in  England. 

I  agree  entirely  with  those  who  believe  in  the  excel 
lence  of  firmness,  and  that  tergiversations  often  bring 
about  ruptures  instead  of  averting  them.  It  was  fitting, 
moreover,  of  course,  that  England  should  admit  of  no 
other  basis  of  negotiations  than  the  immediate  freedom 
of  the  commissioners  or  their  remission  into  the  hands  of 


THE    TKENT.  149 

returned  to  them  as  one  returns  home,  without  needing  to 
account  to  any  one.  The  absence  is  forgotten,  the  journey 
to  the  land  of  illiberal  policy  goes  for  nothing  :  we  are 
at  home,  what  more  would  you  have  ?  Through  acci 
dental  variations  like  these,  is  maintained  the  genuine  and 
glorious  consistency  of  the  English  people. 

I  wish  to  be  just  toward  it,  and  I  see  that  its  return 
home  has  not  been  cilected  with  giant  strides.  Some 
weeks  before  the  session,  there  was  reason  to  fear  that 
both  houses  would  witness  the  triumph  of  the  friends  of 
the  South  ;  Mr.  Gregory  was  about  to  propose  his  motion  ; 
the  Tories  had  their  hands  full  of  arguments  against  the 
blockade;  the  working  population  was  at  hand  to  bear 
upon  the  Government.  The  session  opens,  and  what 
occurs?  Lord  Palmerston  announces  his  intention  of 
maintaining  the  neutrality,  the  Tories  themselves  do  not 
venture  to  combat  it  openly;  as  to  Lord  Russell,  he  holds 
a  language  worthy  of  himself,  contesting  the  proofs  of 
the  inellicacy  of  the  blockade,*  and  insisting  on  the  duty 
of  making  no  movement  that  may  seem  hostile  to  the 
United  States;  the  definitive  separation,  if  it  is  to  take 
place,  must  not  look  as  if  proceeding  from  the  action  of 
ibreign  powers. 

Behold  us  far  from  the  day  when  the  duel  was  to 
commence  between  the  two  fractions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  when  two  free  nations,  two  kindred  peoples,  were 
about  to  destroy  each  other,  to  the  great  joy  of  their 
common  enemies  !  We  will  not  soon  forget  that  fearful 
December !  The  vessel  then  crossing  the  ocean  was  far 
different  from  the  peaceful  Mayflower  which,  in  the  same 
month  of  December,  two  centuries  and  a  half  before,  had 

*  It  is  known  that  one  of  his  despatches  officially  recognizes  the  reg 
ularity  of  the  blockade,  and  that  the  French  Government  has  just  held 
the  same  language. 


150  ENGLAND. 

anchored  on  the  shores  of  America  with  its  Puritans  flee 
ing  from  English  persecution — it  was  a  vessel  bearing  the 
ultimatum  of  England ! 

And  while  it  was  on  its  way,  while  our  hearts  were 
wrung,  and  our  minds  terrified,  by  the  prospect  of  the 
greatest  political  and  moral  disaster  that  could  overtake 
our  generation,  the  influential  London  journals  took  care 
to  instruct  us  upon  the  character  of  the  war,  which  they 
regarded  as  almost  inevitable.  "  It  will  be  terrible !  It 
will  begin  by  the  recognition  of  the  South,  by  the  alliance 
of  the  South,  by  the  assured  triumph  of  the  South  !" 

And  when  a  rumor  was  spread  that  a  despatch  of  Mr. 
Seward — the  one  written  on  the  30th  of  November,  at 
the  precise  moment  when  the  British  cabinet  signed  its 
own — was  of  a  nature  to  give  hopes  of  a  favorable  solu 
tion,  the  Morning  Post  hastened  to  publish,  in  large  type, 
the  official  contradiction  of  this  news,  which,  nevertheless, 
was  true.  The  spontaneous  disavowal  of  all  thought  of 
insult,  the  declaration  announcing  that  Captain  Wilkcs 
had  acted  without  instructions,  the  express  wish  that  the 
question  might  be  treated  on  both  sides  in  a  spirit  of  con 
ciliation,  were  considered  of  no  importance. 

At  this  moment,  do  not  deny  it,  there  was  among 
many  in  England  something  of  the  eagerness  which  is  dis 
played  in  seizing  on  an  occasion.  England,  usually  so 
slow,  acted  with  unheard-of  haste.  Never  have  I  seen  a 
more  striking  commentary  on  the  words  of  the  Apostle, 
"  Their  feet  are  swift  to  siied  blood." 

America  has  just  saved  the  peace  of  the  world. 

A  government  has  been  found  at  Washington,  little 
resembling  the  picture  that  had  been  drawn  for  us,  and  a 
people,  for  the  whole  must  be  confessed,  much  more  sen 
sible  and  more  fully  master  of  itself  than  had  been  pre- 


THE   TflEXT.  151 

tended.  If  eertain  Englishmen  consider  that  the  United 
States  have  not  yielded  enough,  the  vast  majority  in 
England  and  France  think  differently.  We  all  knew  that 
the  Americans  were  not  lacking  in  audacity;  but  we  did 
not  know  that  they  were  possessed  of  moderation;  that, 
in  a  terril>le  position,  and  one  calculated  to  call  forth  the 
passions  of  tire  mob,  they  could  display  the  high  wisdom 
and  political  bearing  which  has  just  won  for  them  so  much 
sympathy. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  progress  which 
they  have  thus  made  in  public  opinion.  For  some  time, 
at  least,  the  public  sense  of  right  has  set  itself  in  opposi 
tion  to  the  assistance  destined  to  the  South  ;  the  South 
feels  the  day  of  the  commissioners'  liberation  to  have  been 
a  day  of  mourning  ;  it  would  have  preferred  the  loss  of 
a  battle. 

Independently  of  the  advantages  which  they  have 
reaped  from  it  in  successfully  carrying  on  their  present 
struggle,  the  United  States  have  found  in  the  upright  and 
able  solution  of  the  incident  of  the  Trent  another  kind  of 
success.  The  true  American  policy — that  which  has  always 
maintained  the  cause  of  neutrals  and  the  liberty  of  the 
seas  against  England — has  gained  a  brilliant  triumph. 
This,  General  Scott  announced  from  the  first  day  :  "  I  am 
sure,"  wrote  he,  '•  that  the  president  and  people  of  the 
United  States  would  be  only  too  happy  to  set  these  pris 
oners  at  liberty,  unpardonable  and  unnatural  as  have 
been  their  offences,  if  by  this  they  could  encourage  the 
commerce  of  the  world."  The  note  of  Mr.  Seward  held 
the  same  language  :  "  If  I  should  decide  this  question  in 
favor  of  my  government,  I  would  be  obliged  to  disavow 
its  dearest  principles.  Our  country  cannot  make  this 
sacrifice.  *  *  *  I  express  my  satisfaction  at  seeing 
this  question  regulated  in  accordance  with  exclusively 


152  ENGLAND. 

American  principles."  This  is  the  pure  truth,  and  all  the 
European  publicists  declared  it  at  the  same  time  with 
Messrs.  Scott  and  Seward.  It  now  remains  to  translate 
into  immutable  articles  in  the  law  of  nations  what  has 
passed  between  England  arid  the  United  States.  The 
latter,  we  may  believe,  will  not  be  the  less  eager  to  insti 
gate  the  convocation  of  a  congress  commissioned  to  de 
fine  contraband  of  war,  to  declare  innocent  all  transporta 
tion  from  one  neutral  port  to  another,  to  accord  to  mail 
packets  all  the  privileges  which  they  require,  to  determine 
the  bounds  beyond  which  the  right  of  search  shall  cease, 
and  to  examine  the  conditions  of  effective  blockade. 

Shall  I  justify,  in  conclusion,  my  elaboration  of  the 
subject  ?  Those  who,  perhaps,  are  surprised  at  its  extent, 
have  not  made  the  reflection — in  many  respects,  we  are 
right  in  saying  that  the  American  question  must  be 
decided  in  England.  If  the  determinations  of  Europe 
have  to  play  a  great  part  in  the  conflicts  of  the  North 
and  South,  the  determinations  of  England  will  rule,  or 
very  nearly,  those  of  Europe. 

It  was  impossible,  therefore,  to  treat  the  American 
question  thoroughly  without  going  to  England  and  closely 
examining  her  sentiments  and  attitude.  The  Trent  affair, 
which  has  brought  every  thing  to  light,  has  furnished  us 
a  means  of  inquiry  which  nothing  could  replace. 

Shall  I  express  my  whole  thought  ?  I  wished  these 
pages  to  bear  some  small  part  in  the  attainment  of  an  end 
which  many  lofty  minds  are  now  pursuing.  The  peace 
will  be  real  only  when  it  shall  have  sunk  into  the  hearts 
of  men  ;  to  be  at  peace,  we  must  not  only  not  be  at 
swords'  points,  but  must  esteem,  and  love  each  other ;  and 
to  love  each  other,  it  is  necessary  to  know  each  other. 
There  is  between  the  Old  World  and  the  New,  especially 
between  England  and  the  United  States,  a  mountain  of 


THE   TRENT.  155 

an  arbiter  ;  but  this  it  bad  the  certainty  of  obtaining,  and 
of  the  two  solutions,  the  first  appeared  more  probable. 
The  position  of  the  United  States  was  such  that  to  avoid 
a  serious  quarrel  without,  especially  with  Great  Britain, 
was  an  evident  necessity.  Far  from  yielding  to  fear, 
Mr.  Lincoln  took  his  resolution  on  the  spot,  even  be 
fore  it  \vas  suspected  at  Washington  that  a  menace  of 
war  would  be  addressed  to  America.  At  this  epoch  of 
absolute  security,  which  is  derided,  but  which  neverthe 
less  arose  from  an  honorable  confidence  in  the  sentiments 
of  the  English  people,  there  was  something  else  in  the 
United  States  than  those  few  popular  demonstrations^ 
which  must  have  been  necessarily  called  forth  by  the 
daring  act  of  Captain  Wilkes  ;  in  the  lace  of  these  de 
monstrations,  lew  in  number  withal,  in  the  face  of  the 
thanks  voted  by  one  of  the  Houses  of  Congress,  the  true 
American  opinion  had  its  organs.  The  N~ew  York  Times 
took  care  to  declare  at  once  that  the  vote  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  lei't  full  liberty  of  action  to  the  Presi 
dent,  and  that  the  question  of  right  would  be  examined 
in  itself.  Other  important  journals  also  demonstrated, 
with  the  full  approbation  of  the  public,  that  if  Captain 
Wilkes  were  in  the  wrong,  the  commissioners  would  be 
set  at  liberty.  At  that  time,  too,  before  there  was  the 
slightest  suspicion  of  an  ultimatum,  the  message  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  preserved  a  significant  silence  on  the  Trent  affair, 
and  Mr.  Scward  voluntarily  disavowed  all  instructions 
given  to  the  cruisers.* 

*  It  is  said:  "The  American  government  might  have  acted  still 
better  ;  if  it  had  spontaneously  resolved  to  give  up  the  commissioners, 
it  would  have  done  so  before  the  arrival  of  the  English  note  '"  I  would 
that  it  had  done  so,  as  I  wrote  to  Mr.  Lincoln  at  the  first  moment.  But 
is  it  so  difficult  then  to  comprehend  a  hesitation  on  the  form  of  doing  so  ? 
Might  not  an  arbitration  have  been  preferred  and  hoped  for,  for  in- 


156  ENGLAND. 

In  truth,  to  attribute  the  maintenance  of  peace  to  the 
bellicose  measures  of  England,  we  must  have  forgotten 
all  that  took  place  in  December,  at  London  and  Wash 
ington. 

America,  we  may  affirm,  has  just  rendered  England 
the  most  brilliant  service  that  ever  one  people  rendered 
another.  If  war  had  broken  out,  it  is  certain  that  great 
calamities  would  have  fallen  upon  the  United  States  ;  but 
calamities  no  less  great  might  have  fallen  upon  England. 
I  seem  to  hear  Job's  messengers,  following  each  other  in 
succession,  each  announcing  a  disaster. 

America  would  have  resisted ;  those  who  doubt  it  do 
not  know  her.  The  power  which  dared  commence,  with 
five  frigates,  the  war  of  1812,  and  which  was  by  no  means 
worsted  in  the  end,  would  have  accepted  the  struggle 
with  all  its  chances.  And  who  knows  whether,  com 
mencing  this  time  again  with  a  few  frigates,  she  would  not 
have  ended  with  a  fleet  ? 

The  distress  of  the  English  manufactures  would  have 
reached  its  height.  The  civil  war,  proceeding  thenceforth 
through  the  medium  of  slave  insurrections,  would  have 
completed  the  destruction  of  cotton,  and  as  to  the  Amer 
ican  markets,  they  would  have  disappeared  for  a  long 
time  to  come. 

Even  in  case  of  success,  what  a  calamity  for  England 
is  this  fratricidal  war !  It  is  their  own  blood  that  they 

stance  ?  The  essential  point  is  that  the  idea  of  making  war,  in  order  to  re 
tain  Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell,  did  not  for  a  moment  enter  the  thought  of 
the  cabinet  at  Washington.  Its  despatch  of  the  30th  of  November,  the 
reserve  of  the  President's  Message,  the  language  of  influential  journals, 
all  that  passed,  in  a  word,  before  there  was  the  slightest  suspicion  of  the 
threatening  attitude  of  England,  demonstrates  conclusively  that  this 
attitude  in  no  wise  contributed  to  the  maintenance  of  peace. 


THE    TRENT.  157 

are  shedding ;  it  is  their  race  that  they  are  destroying  > 
it  is  their  influence  in  the  world  that  they  are  sacrificing 
— the  Old  England  assails  the  New. 

And,  by  the  same  blow,  she  assails  the  liberty  of  the 
world  ;  that  is,  her  own  cause,  her  reason  for  existing, 
her  moral  power  on  earth.  From  that  moment,  she  ceases 
to  bo  any  thing  more  than  the  ally  of  slave-traders ;  she 
has  abdicated  her  power. 

Who  will  guarantee,  moreover,  that  while  she  crosses 
the  seas  to  make  war,  questions,  capital  questions,  will 
not  spring  up  behind  her,  for  the  solution  of  which  there 
arc  those  who  will  gladly  profit  by  her  absence?  She  is 
not  altogether  without  enemies  and  envy  in  the  Old  World. 
Now,  there  is  an  Eastern  crisis  always  ready  to  be  re 
vived,  and  which  will  be  revived  whenever  there  is  need 
of  it.  There  is  also  an  English  India,  which  revolted  but 
the  other  day,  and  which  already  became  restless,  we  are 
told,  at  the  iirst  news  of  the  dispute  with  America. 

Lastly,  war  gives  birth  to  war.  The  war  with  Amer 
ica  would  have  commenced  as  a  duel,  and  ended,  perhaps, 
as  a  melee.  Those  general  conflagrations,  which  are  our 
great  peril,  and  which  English  policy  studies  with  so 
much  wisdom  to  avert,  would  thus  burst,  through  its  own 
act,  upon  terrified  Europe. 

Happily,  all  this  is  but  a  troubled  dream.  The  friends 
of  liberty  and  peace  may  be  reassured  ;  but  are  they  to 
render  thanks  for  this  to  England  ? 

See  how  the  truth  of  our  formula  is  verified  every 
where  and  always  :  as  is  the  value  of  principles,  so  is  the 
accordance  of  principles  and  interests. 

It  is  the  power  of  principles  that  has  arrested  the  evil 
policy,  the  tendencies  of  which  I  have  just  recalled.  In 
spite  of  the  indifference  of  a  noble  people,  in  spite  of  ac- 


158  ENGLAND, 

cumulated  prejudices,  a  sovereign  and  irresistible  impulse 
has  sprung  up  at  the  wished-for  hour,  and  compelled  a 
change  of  system.  Let  any  one  tell  me  what  hinders,  at 
bottom,  the  breaking  of  the  blockade,  the  recognition  of 
the  South,  the  obtaining  of  cotton,  cost  what  it  may,  if 
not  the  impossibility, •].  underline  the  word,  the  impossi 
bility  of  giving  the  hand  to  the  defenders  of  slavery. 

And  it  will  be  some  day  found  that  principles  have 
been  the  only  intelligent  guardians  of  interests.  Justice 
procures  peace,  and  peace  engenders  prosperity.  Where 
was  England  drifting,  so  long  as  she  disdained  principles, 
and  did  violence  to  her  best  inspirations  ?  She  was  drift 
ing  to  ruin  ;  the  Trent  affair,  the  ultimatum,  the  precipi 
tate  arming  of  a  warlike  fleet,  with  all  the  calamities 
which,  hand  in  hand,  were  about  to  hasten  after  the  rup 
ture — such  was  the  prospect  a  few  months  ago.  What  a 
change  to-day  !  England  has  regained  possession  of  her 
self,  of  her  claims  to  honor,  of  her  moral  influence  ;  the 
chances  of  conflict  have  disappeared,  civil  war  in  America 
is  proceeding  toward  its  solution,  and  as  a  recompense 
for  the  true  neutrality,  to  the  support  of  which  she  will 
henceforth  rally,  England  may  obtain  a  glimpse,  at  no 
distant  future,  of  the  reestablishment  of  her  commerce 
with  the  United  States,  while  her  Indian  possessions  will 
inherit  a  great  part  of  the  cultures  destroyed  by  the  folly 
of  the  South. 


P  A  II  T      THIRD. 

THE   ERRORS   CREDITED   IN   EUROPE. 
CHAPTER    I. 

SLAVERY  NOT  REALLY  IN  QUESTION. 

How  will  Europe,  which  professes  to  detest  slavery,  set 
to  work  consistently  to  treat  with  indifference  the  brave 
men  who  are  struggling  against  slavery  in  England  ?  How 
especially  will  England  set  to  work  to  do  this  ?  There  is 
but  ono  resource  in  such  a  case — to  endeavor  to  persuade 
both  oneself  and  others  that  slavery  has,  no  part  in  the 
American  struggle. 

The  friends  of  the  South  have  not  failed  to  do  this. 
They  have  even  attempted  something  better ;  they  have 
sought  to  persuade  us  that  to  ensure  the  triumph  of  the 
So*uth  was  to  serve  the  cause  of  abolition  !  But  this  point, 
our  credulity  hesitated  to  accept,  which  is  saying  not  a 
little.  At  most,  it  would  only  admit  that  this  was  serv 
ing  abolition  as  Jeffreys  served  political  liberty,  as  Louis 
XIV.  and  the  Inqui>ition  served  religious  freedom.  Some 
crimes  bring  about  reactions,  some  victories  provoke 
vengeance  :  that  this  is  true  does  not  suffice  to  recon- 


160  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN   EUROPE. 

cile  the  human  conscience  to  these  victories  and  these 
crimes. 

"  Slavery  is  not  in  question  ;  "  such  has  been  for  a  year 
the  burden  of  letters  from  the  South,  the  text  of  articles 
dictated  and  paid  for  among  us  by  the  South,  the  subjects 
of  pamphlets  and  bound  volumes  printed  in  favor  of  the 
South.  How  often  fnust  an  error  be  repeated  for  it  to 
become  truth  ?  I  know  not.  However  it  may  be,  this 
one  has  made  its  way,  and  we  are  to-day  condemned  to 
undertake  its  serious  refutation.  Well-informed  men  smile 
at  our  innocence ;  they  know  the  Americans,  they  do  not 
suffer  themselves  to  be  deceived  by  appearances,  they 
are  not  dazzled  by  high-sounding  words,  they  go  to  the 
bottom  of  things — and  at  the  bottom  of  things,  what  do 
they  find  ?  The  North,  fighting  for  supremacy  ;  the  South, 
fighting  for  State  sovereignty  and  commercial  freedom, 
or  perhaps,  also,  to  satisfy  the  hatred  inspired  in  it  by  the 
Puritans  and  Yankees  :  as  to  slavery,  it  is  the  pretext  and 
nothing  more — the  shadow  which  a  breath  would  disperse. 

This  is  what  they  tell  us  with  a  shrug  of  the  shoul 
ders  ;  then  adding,  for  it  is  well  to  be  cautious :  "If  by 
degrees  the  struggle  against  slavery  gain  place  in  the 
American  war,  it  will  be  from  the  impulse  of  a  bad  feeling 
— a  feeling  of  hatred  and  vengeance.  It  will  not  probably 
be  claimed  that  abolition  by  way  of  reprisal  has  much 
right  to  our  sympathies." 

Admire  here  the  power  of  principles  !  Men  dare  not 
attack  them  openly,  they  commit  no  infidelity  to  them 
which  is  not  coupled  with  homage.  They  seek  to  keep 
up  appearances  on  this  point.  "  We,  not  encourage  with 
our  good  wishes  those  who  really  oppose  slavery !  We, 
accord  the  shadow  of  a  support,  directly  or  indirectly,  to 
those  who  really  wish  to  maintain  and  extend  slavery ! 
Ah  !  you  know  us  but  little  !  " 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY   IX   QUESTION.  161 

Thorc  is  no  means,  therefore,  of  escaping  the  pitiable 
comedy  which  we  have  witnessed.  Some  have  lied; 
others  more  numerous,  have  admitted,  in  the  best  pos 
sible  fiiith,  that  slavery  is  not  the  cause  of  the  American 
conflict ;  others  in  line,  without  denying  daylight  at  mid 
day,  have  reassured  their  conscience  by  saying  (and  no 
one  will  contest  it)  that  the  Xorth  sought  the  non-exten 
sion  of  slavery,  but  did  not  seek  its  immediate  abolition  ; 
that  there  is  a  great  distance  between  the  Republican 
party  and  the  abolitionists,  properly  called ;  and  that 
consequently  the  Xorth,  not  being  abolitionist,  is  pursuing 
a  political  end  and  deserves  no  especial  interest. 

Before  replying,  which  will  not  be  difficult,  let  me 
express  a  thought  which  weighs  on  me.  For  thirty  years, 
we  have  not  ceased  to  reproach  the  North  for  its  com 
plicity  with  the  South  ;  yet,  on  the  day  when  it  repudiates 
it,  on  the  day  when,  at  the  price  of  prodigious  sacrifices, 
it  utters  the  decisive  speech,  "  Slavery  shall  go  no 
further,"  on  the  day  when  it  rejects  that  violent  and 
gross  policy  which  may  be  defined  in  a  single  sentence, 
the  policy  of  slavery — on  that  day,  we  have  for  it  only 
disdain,  coldness,  and  distrust — on  that  day,  we  seem  to 
have  but  one  thought,  to  discover  the  weak  sides  of  its 
conduct,  to  demonstrate  that  it  does  a  generous  deed 
without  generosity,  that  its  cause  is  not  its  cause,  and 
that  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  wrought  by  men  not 
in  the  least  affected  by  the  question  of  slavery. 

Our  time  excels,  I  know,  in  thus  blighting  our  rare 
occasions  for  enthusiasm  ;  but  such  a  course  to  me  is  re 
volting.  I  believe  that  by  always  suspecting,  we  become 
as  blind  and  blinder  than  by  always  confiding.  Of  all  dupes, 
the  most  miserable,  to  my  mind,  are  those  of  scepticism. 
I  do  not  like  to  put  on  spectacles  to  discover  the  faults  of 
my  friends ;  and  if  here  and  there  something  good  be 


162  ERRORS    OTCEDITEP    IX    EUROPE. 

done  on  earth,  it  is  repugnant  to  me  to  concentrate  my 
attention  on  the  less  noble  motives  which  must  assuredly 
have  mingled  in  it. 

Having  said  this  without  dwelling  on  it,  for  my 
creed  is  well  known,  I  enter  upon  the  subject.  These 
are  the  reasons  for  not  admitting  that  slavery  is  con 
cerned  : 

•Mr.  Lincoln,  or  his  friends,  have  not  been  heard  to 
utter  a  single  time  the  word  Abolition.  They  are  fight 
ing  for  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  and  not  against 
slavery.  No  important  measure  has  been  taken,  no  prin 
ciple  has  been  laid  down;  nothing  has  been  done  of  a  na 
ture  to  move  sympathies  in  Europe.  A  number  of  gen 
erals  have  refused  to  receive  fugitive  slaves,  and  have  even 
returned  them  to  their  masters  ;  but  when  General  Fre 
mont  ventured  to  proclaim  their  emancipation,  haste  was 
made  to  annul  his  proclamation  first,  and  to  remove  him 
afterward. 

I  feel  myself  the  freer  to  reply,  that  I  have  felt  myself 
sometimes  very  free  to  censure.  Yes ;  every  thing  has 
not  been  perfect  in  the  management  of  American  affairs ; 
in  the  presence  of  a  colossal  problem,  the  Washington 
Government  has  had  its  moments  of  wavering  and  error. 
But  what  is  there  extraordinary  in  this  ?  Shall  we  cease 
to  support  men  whom  we  cannot  always  approve  ? 

To  the  service  of  great  causes,  it  is  necessary  to  bring, 
besides  resolution  and  firmness,  an  abundant  supply  of 
patience,  and,  consequently,  indulgence.  I  have  not 
lulled  myself  with  chimeras  respecting  the  spirit  which 
animated  the  North  and  determined  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.  What  did  I  say  last  year  in  my  first  volume  ? 
That  this  was  by  no  means  the  work  of  the  abolitionists, 
that  it  was  by  no  means  in  question  to  destroy  slavery, 
root  and  branch  ;  but  to  begin  at  the  beginning,  to  place 


SLAVERY    NOT   REALLY    IN    QUESTION.  163 

before  the  progress  of  slavery  an  insuperable  barrier,  to 
limit  the  evil  before  destroying  it. 

I  thought  then  that  to  limit  it  was  something,  that 
even  in  one  sense  it  was  every  thing ;  I  still  think  so  to 
day.  Were  there  people  ignorant  enough  of  the  position 
of  parties  in  America,  strangers  enough  to  the  inarch  of 
social  problems  and  the  ways  of  the  human  heart,  to 
dream  it  possible  to  destroy  slavery  at  the  first  stroke? 
If  there  have  been  deceptions,  there  were  also  illusions! 
It  is  vexatious ;  but  I  do  not  see  why  the  United  States 
should  be  held  accountable  for  the  day  dreams,  to  say  the 
least,  strange,  which  appear  to  have  been  current  in 
Europe. 

Their  idea,  which  surely  has  greatness,  is  this : 
Slavery  is  a  prodigious  evil,  morally  and  politically ;  if 
we  remain  chained  to  its  cause,  we  shall  perish ;  another 
step  and  we  shall  lose,  with  the  esteem  of  the  world,  our 
last  chances  for  uprising;  it  is  necessary  to  break  with  the 
conquests  of  slavery,  with  tilibusterism,  with  proceedings 
contrary  to  the  law  of  nations,  with  ultra-democratic 
despotism  ;  it  is  necessary  to  save  our  free  institutions 
before  they  shall  have  been  completely  trailed  in  the 
mire. 

All  this  is  not  abolitionism,  I  admit ;  all  this  may, 
perhaps,  be  said  by  men  in  whom  still  lives  the  detestable 
prejudice  of  skin,  and  who  are  affected  much  less  by  moral 
than  political  considerations.  But  what  must  be  thence 
concluded  ?  To  make  a  prodigious  effort  in  order  to  pre 
vent  one's  country  from  falling  into  the  pit  digged  by 
slavery— is  not  this  to  declare  war  on  slavery  ?  Do  you 
doubt  it  ?  Consult  the  abolitionists  themselves  on  this 
point ;  they  will  answer  you.  Although  Mr.  Lincoln  may 
not  be  the  representative  of  all  their  ideas,  they  know  that 
their  ideas  will  triumph  through  him.  And  the  South 


164          ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

knows  it  likewise.  It  was  not  mistaken  ;  this  election, 
though  not  an  abolition  one,  bore  abolition  within  its 
bosom  ;  from  the  moment  that  the  North  refused  to  serve 
the  cause  of  slavery  on  its  knees,  slavery  was  condemned 
to  perish  ;  it  was  no  longer  but  a  question  of  time. 

For  great  revolutions,  we  must  seek  great  causes,  if 
\ve  would  attain  the  truth.  I  know  of  but  one  cause  pro 
portionate  to  the  revolution  which  is  being  accomplished 
in  America ;  the  struggle  against  slavery  is  at  the  bot 
tom  ;  without  being  abolitionist,  the  Republican  party 
of  18GO  accepted,  much  more  boldly  than  it  imagined,  the 
principle  in  virtue  of  which  abolition  will  one  day  take 
place.  It  knew,  better  than  it  said,  the  way  in  which  it 
was  entering,  and  it  entered  it  without  hesitation.  I 
pity  those  who  do  not  know  how  to  admire  such  an  act ; 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  history  of  Europe  contains  few 
that  can  be  compared  with  it. 

Alas !  it  is  rather  Europe  which  in  this  circumstance 
has  deserted  the  cause  of  liberty  !  Supposing  it  to  have 
been  abandoned  by  the  North  ;  this  would  be  no  reason,  it 
seems  to  me,  for  us  to  turn  our  backs  on  it.  A  line  con 
clusion,  indeed,  of  the  Pharisaical  argument  under  which 
we  have  screened  our  selfishness — the  North  is  not  abo 
litionist  enough,  therefore  we  will  not  be  so  at  all !  The 
North  is  disposed  to  compromise,  therefore  we  will  advise 
her  to  make  terms  at  any  cost  with  the  South !  The  ad 
versaries  of  slavery  lack  enthusiasm,  therefore  we  will 
favor  its  partisans !  I  do  not  exaggerate ;  to  applaud 
decisions  which  confer  on  the  South  the  position  of  bel 
ligerent  ;  to  admit  its  separation,  that  is,  its  triumph ;  to 
accept  the  chance  of  a  war  against  the  North  and  for  the 
South  without  frowning — such  have  been,  if  I  am  not 
mistaken,  the  practical  consequences  of  our  scruples. 


SLAVERY    NOT   REALLY    IN   QUESTION.  165 

The  passion  for  slavery  is  of  recent  growth  in  most  of 
the  Southern  States.  In  the  discussions  which  accom 
panied  the  foundation  of  the  Union  during  the  last  cen 
tury,  Virginia  and  Maryland  showed  themselves  no  less 
convinced  than  Pennsylvania  or  Massachusetts,  of  the  ne 
cessity  of  speedily  putting  an  end  to  the  slave  trade,  of 
preventing  the  introduction  of  slaves  into  new  territories, 
and  even  of  paving  the  way  for  emancipation.  The  leading 
men  of  the  South,  Washington,  Jefferson,  Patrick  Henry, 
"Wythe,  George  Mason,  and  many  others,  then  held  a 
language  for  which,  at  the  present  time,  they  would  be 
tarred  and  feathered  or  hung  by  their  fellow-citizens. 

But  if  the  disease  be  of  recent  date,  it  has  neverthe 
less  developed  with  unheard-of  violence,  and  has  now 
reached  its  crisis.  Without  going  back  to  causes,  among 
which  figure  in  the  first  rank  the  growing  demand  for 
cotton  and  the  invention  of  machinery  to  facilitate  its 
cleaning,  it  suffices  to  establish  the  fact  of  its  appalling 
progress. 

The  annexation  of  Texas  was,  as  it  were,  the  starting- 
point  of  the  South,  since  which,  it  has  not  ceased  to  go 
forward — slavery,  the  progress  of  slavery,  the  dangers 
which  may  threaten  slavery ;  these  are  its  only  anx 
ieties. 

It  had  taken  care  to  stipulate  that  Texas  should  be, 
if  necessary,  divided  into  live  States ;  wishing  in  this  man 
ner  always  to  have  the  means  of  increasing  its  vote  in 
Congress  and  protecting  the  "  institution." 

The  admission  of  California  as  a  free  State  was  com 
bated  with  ardor,  and  combated  a  long  time ;  it  seemed 
an  injustice  toward  slavery. 

The  South  indemnified  itself  for  the  loss  by  forcing  the 
adoption  of  the  forever  odious  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  Xext, 
it  procured  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  wish- 


166          ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

ing  to  open  the  North  itself  to  the  introduction  of  slavery. 
Next,  with  arms  in  its  hands,  and  with  the  audacious  sup 
port  of  President  Buchanan,  it  opposed  the  free  constitu 
tion  of  Kansas.  Lastly,  the  Dred  Scott  decision  came  to 
signify  to  the  whole  Union  that  the  day  had  arrived  when 
it  had  to  choose  between  a  constitutional  resistance  to  the 
crimes  of  the  South  and  a  general  complicity  with  respect 
to  them.  It  was  then  that  the  generous  party  was  form 
ed,  which  inscribed  on  its  banner,  "  the  non-extension  of 
slavery." 

Note,  moreover,  that  in  1850,  when  California  wras 
admitted  as  a  free  State,  a  plan  of  separation  was  seriously 
discussed  in  South  Carolina.  It  was  the  rebellion  which 
we  are  now  witnessing,  ten  years  in  advance  ;  and  I  do 
not  think  that  any  one  will  take  it  upon  himself  to  deny 
that  its  sole  motive  was  the  interest  of  slavery.  But,  in 
1850,  there  was  found  in  the  Charleston  Convention  a 
prudent  majority  which,  while  also  admitting  the  idea  of 
a  separation  on  account  of  slavery,  was  unwilling  to  at 
tempt  the  adventure  until  South  Caiolina  was  certain 
that  the  rest  of  the  slave  States  would  follow  in  her  train. 
The  enterprise  was  therefore  postponed. 

Again,  when  Mr.  Fremont  was  near  attaining  the 
presidency,  South  Carolina  talked  of  seceding.  To  see  a 
man  hostile  to  the  conquests  of  the  "institution"  at  the 
head  of  the  United  States,  was  what  she  was  determined 
never  to  endure.  Fremont  being  defeated,  (by  very  little,) 
the  South  Carolinians  had  not  to  put  their  designs  into  ex 
ecution.  They  confined  themselves  to  two  things :  on  the 
one  hand,  to  profiting  by  Mr.  Buchanan  and  his  cabinet 
to  strengthen  by  every  means  the  position  of  slavery,  to 
invade  the  territories  with  the  support  of  the  administra 
tion,  to  endanger  the  Union,  to  corrupt  institutions,  to 
create  in  haste  a  condition  of  affairs  from  which  escape 


SLAVERY    NOT   REALLY   IN    QUATION.  167 

would  he  impossible ;  on  the  other,  to  profit  again  by  Mr. 
Buchanan  and  his  cabinet  to  pave  the  way  for  the  rebel 
lion,  to  make  provision  for  it  in  advance,  to  render  in 
advance  its  suppression  impossible,  and,  moreover,  to  an 
nounce  loudly  that  if  the  voters  of  I860  should  dare  to 
elect  a  president  hostile  to  slavery,  the  dissolution  of 
the  Union  would  be  proclaimed  on  the  spot. 

I  have  named  the  South  Carolinians,  because  we  must 
really  regard  them  as  the  chief  authors  of  the  insurrection. 
There  is  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  as  well  as  in  the. 
States  formed  from  their  original  territory,  Alabama  and 
Mississippi,  a  passionate  violence  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
which  is  not  discovered  in  the  rest  of  the  South.  Here  is 
truly  found  the  centre  of  the  conspiracy.  I  could  not 
have  said  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  what  I  said  just 
now  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  ;  that,  in  the  last  century, 
the  opposition  to  slavery  and  the  slave  trade  was  almost 
as  lively  there  as  in  the  North.  The  States  who  have 
been  the  first  to  give  the  signal  for  separation,  were  the 
last  to  accept  the  Union,  and  the  motives  of  their  hesita 
tion  at  that  time  give  but  too  clearly  the  key  to  their 
resolutions  to-day — South  Carolina  demanded  that  the 
Constitution  should  recognize,  in  express  terms,  the  legal 
ity  of  the  slave  trade.  Mr.  Pinckney  himself  declared 
without  blushing  that  South  Carolina  would  never  accept 
the  plan  (of  the  Constitution)  if  it  prohibited  the  com 
merce  in  slaves.  Terms  were  made — and  here  com 
menced  the  sad  series  of  compromises — the  slave  trade 
was  sanctioned  for  twenty  years.  Such  was  the  entrance 
of  the  South  Carolinians ;  whoever  recalls  it  to  mind  will 
have  no  difficulty  in  explaining  their  exit. 

What  has  since  passed  explains  it  as  well.  I  wish  that 
those  who  dare  affirm  that  slavery  is  not  the  cause  of  the 
present  conflict,  wTould  be  kind  enough  to  interpret,  apart 


168  ERlfc>RS    CREDITED    IN   EUROPE. 

from  this  cause,  the  discussions  of  the  last  few  years. 
Not  only  has  slavery  always  taken  a  constantly  increasing 
part  therein,  but  it  has  ended  by  remaining  alone  in  de 
bate — alone,  I  do  not  fear  to  go  thus  far.  It  would  be 
necessary  not  to  have  read  a  line  upon  American  discus 
sions  for  the  last  ten  years,  to  preserve  a  doubt  on  this 
point.  The  journals  spoke  only  of  slavery ;  Congress  was 
divided  only  on  the  subject  of  slavery  ;  elections,  great 
and  small,  were  made  only  with  a  view  to  slavery  ;  inter 
nal  and  even  external  policy  was  preoccupied  only  about 
slavery ;  parties  took  form  and  opposed  each  other  only 
by  reason  of  views  concerning  slavery;  the  declarations 
and  scarcely  dissembled  threats  of  the  South  articulated 
only  grievances  connected  with  slavery. 

These  threats  have  been  heard  during  forty  years, 
but  constantly  assuming  a  more  precise  character.  The 
members  of  the  South  Carolina  Convention  recalled  this 
to  mind  themselves  not  long  ago.  "  Secession,"  said  one 
of  the  members,  Mr.  Parker,  "is  no  spasmodic  and  sudden 
effort.  It  has  long  been  brewing  among  us."  And  Mr. 
Inglis  added  :  "Most  of  us  have  had  this  subject  for  forty 
years  under  consideration."  Mr.  Keitt  exclaimed,  in  his 
turn  :  "  I  have  been  engaged  in  this  movement  ever  since 
I  entered  political  life." 

Animated  by  such  a  spirit,  the  ringleaders  of  the 
South,  it  will  be  comprehended,  would  make  no  scruples 
in  proposing  to  break  off  the  bargain  with  their  Northern 
fellow-citizens,  provided  that  slavery  were  menaced  by 
them.  On  the  presentation  to  Congress  of  petitions 
praying  that  the  District  of  Columbia,  the  seat  of  govern 
ment,  might  be  free  soil,  the  explosion  took  place ;  and 
directly,  obedient  to  the  angry  commands  of  the  South, 
Congress  passed  a  series  of  ignoble  laws,  limiting  its  own 
action  in  every  thing  affecting  slavery.  On  the  adoption 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IX    QUESTION.  169 

of  liberty-bills  in  the  Northern  States,  came  a  new  ex 
plosion  and  new  threats ;  the.  South  would  suffer  no  State 
to  refuse  its  magistrates  and  prisons  to  the  execution  of 
the  infamous  law  exacting  the  return  of  fugitive  slaves. 
"VVe  remember,  in  fine,  the  struggle  which  took  place  be 
fore  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  for  the  choice  of  the  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  for  several  weeks 
neither  party  would  yield  ;  and  when  finally  the  Republi 
can  candidate  triumphed,  the  organs  of  the  South  were 
not  slow  in  announcing  the  deep  discontent  of  the  slave 
holders,  as  we'll  as  the  terrible  results  which  would  ere 
long  ensue  from  rt. 

So  truly  was  slavery,  and  slavery  alone  concerned,  that 
the  question  par  excellence  was  that  involving  the  fate  of 
slavery — the  question  of  the  territories.  According  as 
this  should  be  resolved  in  one  direction  or  the  other,  the 
future  of  the  "institution,"  everyone  felt,  would  be  guar 
anteed  or  endangered.  Thence,  the  bloody  expeditions 
against  free  Kansas ;  thence,  the  sacking  of  Lawrence,  in 
1856,  by  the  Border  Ruffians,  led  by  a  former  acting  vice- 
president  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Atchison;  thence,  all 
those  scenes  of  barbarity,  the  sombre  prelude  to  1861  ; 
thence,  all  those  solemn  resolutions  passed  by  the  legisla 
tures  of  the  South.  I  quote  that  adopted  by  Alabama  in 
January,  1860  : 

"The  territories  belonging  to  the  United  States  are 
.the  common  property  of  the  people  of  the  States.  The 
people  of  the  Slave  States  have  a  right  to  enjoy  their 
property  in  slaves  within  the  said  territories,  so  long  as 
they  preserve  this  character,  and  no  law  adopted  by  the 
territories  can  deprive  them  of  such  a  right." 

This  lofty  declaration,  which  is  already  well-nigh  a 
declaration  of  secession,  is  found  again  in  the  platforms  of 
the  candidates  for  the  presidency  supported  by  the  South. 


170  ERRORS   CREDITED   IN   EUROPE. 

Survey  all  these  platforms,  of  the  South  and  the  North, 
of  the  ultra  and  the  moderate  parties,  and  you  will  find 
therein  only  the  single,  absorbing  question  of  slavery — 
Kansas,  the  territories,  fugitive  slaves,  and  nothing  else. 
Yet  from  these  has  been  made  the  brilliant  discovery : 
slavery  is  not  the  true  cause  of  the  American  conflict ! 

What  do  we  read  in  the  platforms  of  the  Republicans 
who  supported  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  in  the  votes  of  their  con 
ventions  ?  No  extension  of  slavery  beyond  its  present 
limits  ;  no  more  admission  of  new  slave  States  into  the 
Union  ;  the  adoption  of  efficient  measures  against  the 
slave  trade  ;  the  important  modification  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law ;  the  denunciation  of  the  Dred  Scott  decision, 
which  denied  all  rights  to  negroes  and  transformed  all 
the  free  States  into  slave  territory ! 

What  do  we  read  in  the  platform  of  the  South  which 
supported  Mr.  Breckenridge,  and  in  the  votes  of  its  con 
ventions?  Slavery  shall  be  national,  and  shall  be  recog 
nized  by  the  Constitution  ;  it  shall  extend  with  the  Union  ; 
no  State  can  prevent  the  transit  of  slaves  ;  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law  shall  be  made  more  stringent. 

What  do  we  see  in  the  platform  of  the  Douglas  party  ? 
The  right  of  the  people  of  the  territories  to  adopt  or  pro 
hibit  slavery ;  and,  in  compensation,  doubtless,  the  acqui 
sition  of  Cuba. 

In  fine,  there  is  not  a  single  party,  even  to  that  of  Mr. 
Bell,  which  pretended  to  preserve  an  impartial  balance  be 
tween  the  South  and  the  North,  the  Republicans  and  the 
Democrats,  that  has  not  taken  care  to  immure  itself  with 
in  the  question  of  slavery.  The  platform  of  the  latter 
may  be  summed  up  in  this  wise  :  "  The  maintenance  of  the 
Union  by  important  concessions  to  the  slave  States." 

And  observe,  the  threat  of  separation  has  always 
figured  in  the  contest ;  so  that  it  cannot  be  said  that  a 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IN    QUESTION.  171 

new  question  lias  been  substituted  for  that  agitated  at 
the  time  of  the  two  last  presidential  elections.  The 
question  has  remained  and  still  remains  the  same  :  there 
are  not  two,  there  is  but  a  single  one.  The  South  has 
demanded  the  extension  of  slavery,  announcing  that,  if  it 
were  refused  her,  she  would  withdraw  from  the  Union ; 
the  North  has  demanded  the  non-extension  of  slavery, 
and  has  valiantly  accepted  the  chance,  terrible  though 
it  were,  of  a  disruption. 

Do  you  wish  for  proof  ?     Listen. 

Mr.  Butler,  a  leading  member  of  the  Senate,  where  he 
represented  South  Carolina,  expressed  himself  in  this 
wise  in  1856  :  "  If  Fremont  be  elected,  each  of  the  South 
ern  States  will  convoke  its  legislature,  and  take  the  neces 
sary  measures." 

Mr.  Brooks,  the  Member  of  Congress  who  caned  Mr. 
Sumner,  said  in  his  turn  to  those  who  complimented  him : 
"Trample  under  foot  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  form  a  Southern  Confederacy,  composed  en 
tirely  of  slave  States.  ...  If  Fremont  be  elected,  I  am 
of  the  opinion  that  the  people  of  the  South  should  rise  in 
their  might  above  magistrates  and  laws,  take  the  power  in 
their  own  hands,  and  lay  the  strong  grasp  of  free  Southern 
men  on  the  treasury  and  archives  of  the  Government." 

At  the  same  time,  the  Charleston  Mercury,  an  influ 
ential  journal,  declared  that  in  case  Mr.  Fremont  were 
elected,  "there  was  not  .^public  man  in  South  Carolina, 
not  one  of  its  representatives  or  members  of  Congress, 
that  would  not  be  decided  on  a  separation." 

The  Governor  of  Virginia  held  exactly  the  same  lan 
guage.  Mr.  Faulkner,  of  this  State,  the  minister  to 
France  under  Mr.  Buchanan,  exclaimed,  a  little  later: 
"  When  that  noble  and  brave  child  of  Virginia,  Henry 
Wise,  declared  as  he  did  in  October,  1856,  that  if  Fre- 
8* 


172  ERRORS    CREDITED   IN   EUROPE. 

mont  were  elected,  he  would  seize  the  Federal  arsenal  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  how  few  at  that  time  would  have  ap 
proved  so  bold  a  measure  !  It  is  the  privilege  of  great 
minds  to  be  in  advance  of  their  fellows." 

The  question  was  then  no  longer  of  Mr.  Fremont,  but 
of  Mr.  Lincoln.  I  have  my  hands  full  of  extracts  from 
the  journals  and  official  speeches  of  the  time.  Their 
uniform  conclusion  is,  "  If  Lincoln  be  elected,  the  Union 
must  not  endure  another  hour." 

Jefferson  Davis,  whose  testimony  will  not  be  without 
value,  said,  in  his  address  in  1859,  to  the  people  of 
Mississippi :  "  In  case  they  elect  as  president  a  partisan  of 
the  doctrines  professed  by  Seward  at  Rochester,  dissolve 
the  Union  ! " 

On  the  24th  of  January,  1860,  Mr.  Toombs,  now  a 
member  of  the  cabinet  at  Richmond,  made  this  speech  in 
the  Senate :  "  My  State  (Georgia)  has  made  known  its 
opinion.  Nine  years  ago,  it  assembled  a  convention,  and 
declared  that  its  connection  with  the  government  depend 
ed  on  the  faithful  execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
and  the  full  enjoyment  of  equal  rights  in  the  territories. 
.  .  .  Free  men  of  Georgia,  keep  your  word,  I  am  ready 
to  keep  mine !  .  .  .  Never  permit  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  to  pass  into  the  traitorous  hands  of  the  Black  Re 
publican  party  !  " 

Such  was  the  attitude  of  the  Southern  senators  and 
representatives.  If  a  president  opposed  to  the  progress 
of  slavery  were  elected,  the  disruption  would  take  place. 
"  You  may  elect  a  Northern  president,"  exclaimed  one, 
"  but  Virginia  will  resist  his  authority."  And  these 
furious  declarations  were  applauded  with  enthusiasm,  not 
only  by  Southern  men,  but  by  many  members  of  the 
democratic  party,  by  all  who  w^ere  in  favor  of  slavery. 
Slavery  must  be  saved  at  any  price — they  would  sacrifice 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IX    QUESTION.  173 

to  it,  if  necessary,  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  the  great 
ness  of  the  Republic  !  So  true  was  it  that  the  only  anx 
iety  was  for  slavery. 

Once  more,  I  cannot  transcribe  every  thing  for  fear  of 
wearying  the  reader;  it  seems  to  me,  moreover,  that  my 
demonstration  is  complete.  Let  me  be  permitted  only  to 
give  a  few  lines  of  the  speech  delivered  in  December, 
185G,  by  Mr.  Wise,  the  Governor  of  Virginia;  I  recom 
mend  them  to  the  attention  of  Englishmen  : 

"If pacific  means  do  not  suffice,  a  little  bloodletting, 
gentlemen,  will  reduce  the  fever.  .  .  .  The  true  seat  of 
American  dissensions,  the  true  cause,  the  true  root  of  our 
evil,  is  the  influence  of  Great  Britain.  ...  I  fear  some 
times  that  the  constant  intercourse  between  New  and  Old 
England  has  rendered  the  sympathy  of  the  former  for  the 
latter  more  lively  than  her  affection  for  us." 

This  is  called  speaking  frankly.  The  love  of  slavery 
and  the  hatred  of  England,  which  everywhere  attacks 
slavery — this  is  really  the  basis  of  Southern  feeling. 

The  Republican  party  was  therefore  forewarned.  It 
knew  beyond  the  possibility  of  mistake  what  would  be 
the  immediate  results  of  a  liberal  election.  It  must  be 
granted,  that  if  these  men  were  not  sustained  by  a  moral 
principle,  if  they  were  not  obedient  to  the  law  of  duty, 
their  conduct  becomes  inexplicable.  One  does  not  sacri 
fice,  without  sufficient  reason,  his  tranquillity,  his  fortune, 
and  the  fortune  of  his  country.  How  am  I  to  compre 
hend  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  if  opposition  to  slavery 
were  not  its  cause  ?  I  go  further ;  how  am  I  to  compre 
hend  the  existence  of  a  Republican  party  ?  In  what  does 
it  differ  from  that  of  the  Democrats,  which  maintains  the 
system  of  concession  to  slavery  ? 

Slavery  or  liberty  !  The  question  was  put  in  these 
terms.  All  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  all  without 


174          ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

exception,  understood  it  in  this  wise,  before  and  after  the 
election.  All  in  the  South  who  were  in  favor  of  liberty, 
voted  for  Mr.  Lincoln  ;  (when,  by  chance,  in  some  parts, 
they  were  at  liberty  to  express  such  tendencies ;)  all  in 
the  North  who  were  in  favor  of  slavery,  or  disposed  to 
make  concessions  to  it,  voted  against  Mr.  Lincoln.  The 
election  was  so  far  from  sectional,  as  Americans  term 
it,  that  a  Northern  man  in  favor  of  slavery  would  have 
been  accepted  with  enthusiasm  by  the  South,  and  a 
Southern  man  opposed  to  slavery  would  have  been  wel 
comed  with  no  less  enthusiasm  by  the  North. 

Never,  surely,  was  a  grander  problem  set  before  a 
people.  Mr.  Seward  reduced  it  to  an  admirable  formula, 
when  he  spoke  of  the  "irrepressible  conflict."  * 

The  conflict  remains  to-day  in  the  civil  war  what  it 
was  in  the  constitutional  struggle  of  the  political  meetings. 
If  it  were  otherwise,  why  is  there  not  a  single  free  State 
on  the  side  of  the  South  ?  Why  is  there  not  a  single 
cotton  State  on  the  side  of  the  North?  Why  are  the 
Border  States  themselves  divided  in  proportion  to  their 
attachment  to  slavery  ?  Why  have  AVestern  Virginia 
and  Eastern  Tennessee,  for  the  sole  reason  that  they  have 
fewer  slaves,  detached  themselves  from  their  States  in 
order  to  separate  from  the  rebellion  ? 

And  let  not  this  rebellion  be  called  insane  ;  in  view 
of  slavery,  in  the  sight  of  men  who  consider  nothing 
but  slavery,  and  who,  to  save  it,  are  ready  to  immo 
late  every  thing,  even  their  country  and  their  oaths, 
the  separation  had  become  a  necessity.  There  is  an  in 
fallible  instinct  which  warns  social  iniquities  that  the 

*  This  is  his  phrase,  which  deserves  to  be  preserved,  since  it  was  the* 
almost  constant  text  of  the  debates  which  preceded  the  election :  The 
collision  between  the  two  systems  of  labor  in  the  United  States  is  an 
irrepressible  conflict  between  two  opposing  forces. 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IX    QUESTION.  175 

moment  their  power  is  circumscribed,  their  death-warrant 
is  signed.  They  are  condemned  to  2*0  on  increasing  under 

O  •/  ^ 

pain  of  perishing.  Can  you  conceive  of  stationary  slavery, 
stationary  in  the  country  of  incessant  progress?  Every 
tiling  around  it  is  growing,  while  it  has  ceased  to  increase. 
IIo\v  long  will  it  be  before  it  will  have  ceased  to  exist  ? 
See  free  States  springing  up  at  the  North  and  West ; 
what  will  become  of  it,  imprisoned  in  insuperable  limits, 
shut  out  from  the  territories,  the  list  of  States  which 
belong  to  it  definitively  closed  ? 

Mr.  Simmer  has  said  with  great  reason,  "  Such  is  the 
nature  of  slavery,  that  it  can  only  exist  where  it  rules." 
A  vital  question  was  therefore  at  stake,  and  nothing  had 
power  of  changing  its  nature1 — promise  what  you  like, 
pile  up  guarantees,  interdict  yourselves  the  right  of  inter 
fering  in  any  manner  with  the  internal  institutions  of 
States — it  matters  little;  slavery  ceasing  to  reign,  will 
cease  to  live ;  forbidden  to  go  forward,  it  will  go  back 
ward  rapidly. 

It  remains  for  me  to  examine  what  lias  passed  since 
the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln;  I  find  it  the  exact  confirma 
tion,  and  counter-verification,  as  it  were,  of  all  that  hap- 
pent-tl  before.  Slavery  remains  the  sole  question.  The 
cotton  States  continue  their  threats,  the  partisans  of  com 
promise  endeavor  to  effect  negotiations. 

And  what  do  \vc  find  in  these  schemes  ?  Did  the 
peace  conference,  which  sat  at  Washington  under  the 
presidency  of  Mr.  Tyler  and  the  influence  of  Virginia, 
have  any  other  thought  than  slavery  ?  Did  it  propose  to 
proclaim  free  trade  ?  No  one  dreamed  of  it  there  for  a 
moment ;  no  one  thought  of  it  until  after  the  attempt  to 
deceive  Europe  by  substituting  pretexts  for  reasons. 
The  minutes  of  the  Peace  Conference  may  be  consulted ; 
nothing  will  be  found  in  them  which  does  not  relate  to 


176  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

slavery  in  the  territories,  to  fugitive  slaves,  to  amendments 
calculated  to  render  the  Constitution  more  favorable  to 
slaveholders,  to  the  maintenance  of  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  to  the  transit  of  slaves  through  free 
States,  to  the  sojourn  in  free  States  of  planters  with 
their  slaves,  to  the  suppression  of  incendiary  attacks 
against  the  doctrine  of  slavery,  to  the  abrogation  of  lib 
erty-bills. 

These  were  the  things  then  debated  at  Washington ; 
and  if  a  few  stipulations  were  proposed  besides,  designed 
to  recognize  the  right  of  separation,  I  need  not  say  that 
circumstances  rendered  such  manifestations  inevitable. 
At  the  same  time,  a  respectable  man,  Mr.  Crittenden,  with 
whom  compromises  are  somewhat  of  a  specialty,  offered 
motions  in  Congress,  designed  to  reestablish  peace,  the 
sole  object  of  which  was  slavery. 

I  have  turned  over  with  some  care  a  large  volume 
containing  the  debates  of  the  Missouri  Convention  in 
1861.  I  was  curious  to  see  what  the  representatives  of 
one  of  the  largest  of  the  Border  States  had  to  say  among 
themselves,  under  the  impulse  of  events.  I  have  ex 
amined  it  thoroughly  ;  and,  apart  from  a  few  dissertations 
on  the  right  of  separation,  and,  consequently,  on  State 
sovereignty,  I  have  discovered  nothing  but  discussions, 
often  very  interesting,  and  arguing  a  remarkable  devek 
opment  of  local  life,  but  relating  solely  to  slavery. 

There  was  another  document  to  be  consulted  ;  namely, 
the  act  whereby  the  insurgent  South  appropriated  to 
its  use  the  ancient  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
What  changes  have  been  introduced  in  this  ?  Two,  only. 
The  first,  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  political  prin 
ciple  proclaimed  by  the  revolution,  ensures  State  sover 
eignty  ;  the  second,  the  expression  of  the  fundamental 
idea  of  the  South,  recognizes  and  protects  slavery  in 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IN    QUESTION.  177 

all  the  States,  as  well  as  in  the  territories  which  may  be 
acquired  by  their  confederacy. 

The  South  has  been  praised  for  having  put  aside  all 
"  false  delicacy,"  and  called  things  by  "  their  right  names." 
It  is  certain  that  it  has  fully  deserved  this  praise.  Al 
though  restrained  by  the  necessity  of  not  too  greatly  ex 
asperating  public  opinion  in  Europe,  although  sacrificing 
to  this  necessity  the  slave-trade,  warmly  defended  at 
Montgomery  by  the  South  Carolinians,  it  has  unfurled  its 
banner,  and  if  we  do  not  read  thereon  its  true  device,  it 
is  our  fault  and  not  its  own. 

Not  only  does  it  summon  to  itself  all  the  slave  States, 
which  are  still  missing,  while  it  would  not  accept  a  free 
State  at  any  price,  but  it  defines  in  the  clearest  terms  that 
article  of  its  constitution  which  ought  to  have  aroused 
the  conscience  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Hear  the  J\iclnn^nd  Enquirer :  "  Hitherto  the  defence 
of  slavery  has  encountered  great  difficulties,  because  its 
apologists  (for  they  were  merely  apologists)  stopped  half 
way.  They  coniined  the  defence  of  slavery  to  negro 
slavery  alone,  abandoning  the  principle  of  slaverv,  and 
admitting  that  every  other  form  of  slavery  was  wrong. 
Now,  the  line  of  defence  is  changed ;  the  South  maintains 
that  slavery  is  just,  natural,  and  necessary,  and  that  it 
do^es  not  depend  on  the  difference  of  complexions." 

Hear  Mr.  Stephens,  the  Vice-President  of  the  South 
ern  Confederacy,  and  the  most  eloquent  of  its  orators. 
His  Atlanta  speech,  which  I  am  about  to  quote,  is  a  man 
ifesto,  and  a  manifesto  accepted  by  his  fellow-citizens;  for 
it  was  after  this  speech  that  he  was  reflected  to  the  emi 
nent  position  which  he  fills:  "Though  last,  not  least,  the 
new  constitution  has  put  to  rest  forever  all  the  agitating 
questions  relating  to  our  peculiar  institutions.  .  .  .  Slavery 
was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  late  rupture  and  present 


178  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

revolution.  Jefferson,  in  his  forecast,  had  anticipated  this 
as  '  the  rock  upon  which  the  old  Union  would  split.'  He 
was  right.  The  prevailing  ideas  entertained  by  him  and 
most  of  the  leading  statesmen  of  his  time  were,  that  the 
enslavement  of  the  African  race  was  in  violation  of  the 
laws  of  nature.  .  .  .Those  ideas,  however,  were  fundament 
ally  false.  They  rested  upon  the  assumption  of  the  equal 
ity  of  races.  This  was  an  error.  It  was  a  sandy  founda 
tion.  .  .  .Our  new  government  is  founded  upon  exactly  the 
opposite  idea;  its  foundations  are  laid,  its  corner-stone 
rests/  upon  the  great  truth  that  the  negro  is  not  equal  to 
the  white  man ;  that  slavery,  subordination  to  the  supe 
rior  race,  is  his  natural  and  normal  condition.  This,  our 
new  government,  is  the  first  in  the  history  of  the  world 
based  upon  this  great  physical,  philosophical,  and  moral 
truth.  .  .  .The  negro,  by  nature  or  by  the  curse  against 
Canaan,  is  fitted  for  that  condition  which  he  occupies  in 
our  system.  This  stone,  which  was  rejected  by  the  build 
ers,  '  is  become  the  chief  stone  of  the  corner '  in  our  new 
edifice." 

We  see  that  there  are  two  schools  in  the  South,  and 
that  Mr.  Stephens,  not  going  so  far  as  the  Richmond  En 
quirer,  confines  himself  to  negro  slavery !  But  with  what 
enthusiasm  he  speaks  of  it !  How  we  feel  that  to  him  and 
his  Southern  compatriots  it  is  a  duty  to  be  accomplished  ! 

By  the  side  of  this  official  manifesto,  all  else  grows 
dim.  I  will  therefore  suppress  the  numerous  quota 
tions  which  I  have  at  hand,  and  content  myself  with 
recalling  the  fact — the  remembrance  contains  a  lesson — 
that  Mr.  Calhoun,  the  most  important  politician,  perhaps, 
that  the  South  has  ever  produced,  did  not  fear  to  affirm 
already  in  his  time,  that  "  slavery  was  the  surest  and  most 
stable  basis  on  which  to  establish  free  institutions."  Mr. 
Hunter,  of  Virginia,  expressed  the  same  idea  in  a  figura- 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IN    QUESTION.  179 

tive  shape:  "The  keystone  which  caps  and  sustains  the 
powerful  arch  on  which  our  social  system  reposes,  is  made 
of  (hat  block  of  blade  marble  called  the  African  slave." 

Is  doubt  still  possible  ?  Suppose  even,  which  is  false, 
that  the  North  has  not  risen  against  slavery,  we  are  forced 
to  admit  at  least  that  the  South  has  really  risen  for  slave 
ry.  It  is  the  first  time,  they  have  taken  care  to  tell  us — 
it  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world  that  a  great 
movement  has  been  made  in  the  sole  end  of  proclaiming 
and  securing  the  sacred  rights  of  slavery.  This  is  a  re 
bellion  without  grievances  or  pretexts;  it  lias  but  one 
thought — slavery  is  menaced,  slavery  may  perish,  the  new 
President  will  not  give  slavery  the  protection  which  it 
needs,  majorities  will  be  formed  constantly  more  hostile 
to  slavery. 

Yet  European  opinion  has  wavered ! 

We  are  told  of  other  questions  which  give  the  key,  it 
is  said,  of  the  present  crisis.  Let  us  examine  them. 

"At  the  bottom  of  the  electoral  struggle  which  re 
sulted  in  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  there  was  not 
slavery,  but  supremacy  !"  This  is  often  repeated  in  Eu 
rope,  and  has  an  air  of  profundity.  I  seek  for  things  be 
hind  the  words,  and  find  nothing. 

What  means  the  supremacy  of  the  South  ? — the  ex 
tension  of  slavery.  The  South,  moreover,  willingly  ac 
cepted  Northern  men,  and  Mr.  Buchanan,  the  Pennsylva- 
nian,  suited  it  admirably,  because  he  served  the  purposes 
of  slavery ;  because,  with  him,  it  could  organize  expedi 
tions  against  Central  America  and  Cuba ;  because,  with 
him,  it  could  continue  the  slave  trade  ;  because,  with  him, 
it  could  impose  slavery  in  Kansas  on  a  people  that  reject 
ed  it. 

Discover,  if  you  can,  any  distinction  whatever  between 


180  ERRORS   CREDITED   IX   EUROPE. 

the  question  of  slavery  and  the  question  of  supremacy ! 
You  will  not  succeed.  If  it  were  otherwise,  the  electoral 
platforms,  I  think,  would  have  accorded  some  place  to 
this  question  of  supremacy.  If  it  were  otherwise,  would 
there  have  been  an  important  party  in  the  North — the 
Democratic  party — voting  for  Southern  candidates  ?  Who 
can  make  you  believe  that  the  supremacy  of  the  South 
was  desired  by  Northern  democrats  ?  Their  policy  was 
more  natural — they  accepted  the  candidates  of  the  South 
because  they  accepted  the  extension  of  slavery. 

"  Well,  be  it  so,"  it  is  said  ;  "  the  question  is  not  of 
supremacy,  but  State  sovereignty." 

What  does  this  mean  ?  Was  the  South  to  be  op 
pressed  ?  Was  any  one  about  to  meddle  with  her  pecu 
liar  institutions?  Was  self-government  to  be  infringed 
upon  in  any  wise  ?  Had  Mr.  Lincoln  announced  his  de 
sign  of  attacking  that  portion  of  sovereignty  constitu 
tionally  devolving  on  individual  States  ?  The  attempt  is 
vain  ;  it  will  not  be  easy  to  transform  Mr.  Lincoln  into  a 
despot,  rending,  with  his  own  hands,  the  constitution  of 
his  country ;  or  to  move  our  compassion  for  the  servi 
tude  with  which  the  South  was  bowed  down  or  threat 
ened.  It  possessed,  by  virtue  of  its  constitution,  the 
privilege  of  electing  more  representatives  than  its  white 
population  would  have  permitted ;  it  had,  in  fact,  since 
the  foundation  of  the  Union,  made  twelve  presidents  out 
of  nineteen  ;  twenty-one  speakers  out  of  thirty-three ; 
and  sixty-one  presidents  of  the  Senate  out  of  seventy- 
seven,  including  presidents  pro  tern.  The  minority,  it 
had  made  the  law. 

Ah  !  if  by  the  words,  "  State  sovereignty,"  you  mean 
the  right  of  the  South  forever  to  rule  the  North,  and  its 
right  to  withdraw  when  this  government  escapes  its 
hands,  into  the  bargain,  I  have  nothing  to  say ;  in  this 
respect,  the  questions  of  supremacy  and  State  sovereignty 


SLAVERY   NOT   EEALLY    IN    QUESTION.  181 

were  both  involved.  But  who  does  not  see  that  the  claim 
to  rule  was  confounded  here  with  the  cause  of  slavery, 
which  perishes,  as  we  have  said,  as  soon  as  its  interests 
cease  to  rule  ?  The  supremacy  and  independence  of  the 
South  again  was  only  slavery.  If  this  had  not  been  so,- 
every  one  would  not  have  said  and  felt  it.  There  is  a 
popular  instinct  in  great  crises  which  is  never  mistaken. 

In  our  eagerness  to  put  ourselves  on  the  wrong  scent 
and  reassure  our  conscience,  we  have  carefully  gathered 
up  the  small  reasons  and  let  the  great  ones  go.  The 
small  reasons  are  real  ones  ;  the  error  does  not  consist  in 
pointing  them  out,  but  in  assigning  them  a  place  which 
does  not  belong  to  them. 

I  will  apply  this  remark  to  the  most  general,  most 
popular  explanation  of  the  Southern  insurrection. 

"There  is  in  it,"  it  is  said,  u  an  antipathy  of  race. 
The  incompatibility  of  temper  between  the  North  ami 
South  already  troubled  the  patriotic  soul  of  Washington, 
who  trusted  to  time  to  resolve  the  problem.  Time,  how 
ever,  has  \vrought  no  solution,  the  problem  remains  entire, 
the  mutual  hatred  of  the  Cavalier  and  the  Puritan,  the 
man  of  leisure  who  leads  the  life  of  a  gentleman,  and  the 
man  who  works  for  his  livelihood  in  the  fields,  the  factory, 
and  the  warehouse — this  long-lived  hatred  must  some  day 
have  brought  about  a  rupture.  It  has  done  so ;  why 
should  we  cast  the  blame  on  slavery?" 

Why  ?  Because,  so  long  as  the  question  of  slavery 
was  not  raised  in  its  present  form,  the  differences  of  the 
North  and  South,  which,  doubtless,  were  not  less,  brought 
about  no  secession.  The  threats  of  secession  commenced 
on  the  day  when  slavery  had  reason  to  believe  itself  in 
peril ;  the  threats  of  secession  were  realized  on  the  day 
when  this  peril  became  certain. 

It  is  convenient  to  forget  this,  and  to  expatiate  on  the 


182  ERRORS   CREDITED   IX   EUROPE. 

definition  of  the  distinct  types  found  north  and  south  of 
the  Susquehanna.  If  you  say  that  the  cotton  planter  de 
tests  the  Yankee,  you  are  right  in  some  measure.  The 
Times  correspondent,  in  his  journey  through  the  South, 
gathered  manifestations  of  feelings  not  precisely  amiable  : 
"  Would  that  the  accursed  vessel  that  brought  those 

d d  Yankees  to  America  had  foundered  on  the  way  ! 

We  could  get  along  with  these  fanatics,  if  they  were  only 
Christians  and  gentlemen.  Give  us  whatever  government 
you  like,  even  tyranny  or  despotism,  but  nothing  shall 
compel  us  to  remain  united  with  the  brutal  and  vulgar 
rabble  of  New  England  ! "  Such  is  indeed  the  expression 
of  hatred  as  it  is  felt  now  in  Charleston.  In  the  eyes  of 
the  South  Carolinians  in  arms  for  slavery,  New  England, 
I  say  it  to  its  honor,  can  be  naught  but  the  incarnation 
of  evil.  Freedom  of  speech,  freedom  of  the  press,  habits 
of  labor,  every  thing  that  wounds  the  susceptibilities  of 
slaveholders,  is  found  in  these  primitive  States,  peopled 
by  Roundheads.  The  attack  comes  from  there,  the  enemy 
is  there. 

But  the  enemy — let  not  the  English  deceive  them 
selves  ! — is  also  in  England.  Among  Americans,  I  per 
ceive  much  less  antagonism  of  races  than  of  principles. 
Take  away  slavery,  and  the  motives  for  union  will  a 
thousand  times  prevail  (South  Carolina  and  Georgia  ex- 
cepted,  perhaps)  over  those  for  separation.  In  the  South 
and  North,  I  see  the  same  religious  faiths,  the  same  char 
itable  institutions,  the  same  national  glory,  the  same  great 
men  adopted  by  all,  the  same  historic  memories,  the  same 
language,  the  same  literature,  the  same  interests,  the  same 
parties.  Let  us  add  that  the  same  institutions  have  been 
practised  and  loved  in  both  North  and  South ;  they  still 
exercise  such  an  influence  over  the  Southern  people,  that 
after  having  seceded  to  protect  their  slavery,  they  have 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IN    QUESTION".  183 

deemed  it  impossible  for  them  to  imagine  forms  of  govern 
ment  other  than  those  of  the  United  States. 

I  am  not  ignorant  that,  under  the  influence  of  over 
excited  passions,  and  to  flatter  the  English,  of  whom  they 
had  need,  the  South  Carolinians  may  have  uttered  the  cry 
which,  according  to  Mr.  Russell,  must  have  caused  the 
shades  of  George  III.,  North,  and  Johnson,  to  leap  for 
joy:  u  If  we  could  but  be  governed  by  a  member  of  the 
royal  family  of  England  !"  But  let  them  not  trust  too 
much  to  this.  If  the  planters  cast  a  look  of  envy  on  the 
landed  aristocracy  and  gentry  of  their  cousins,  if  they  love 
English  customs,  if  they  pride  themselves  on  their  descent 
from  old  English  families,  England,  notwithstanding,  will 
do  wisely  not  to  dream  of  the  establishment  of  a  constitu 
tional  monarchy  under  a  prince  of  the  house  of  Il-inover. 
Republican  manners  have  struck  root  deeper  than  is  imag 
ined,  even  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  the  op 
position  of  the  South  and  North  is  less  absolute  than  is 
said.  Apart  from  slavery,  no  question  would  have  sepa 
rated  those  united  by  so  many  ties.  The  honorable  cor 
respondent  of  the  Times  was  much  nearer  the  truth 
when,  forgetful  for  a  moment  of  the  compliments  paid  to 
England,  and  remembering,  as  a  man  of  heart,  the  great 
cause  of  humanity  which  England  patronizes,  he  exclaim 
ed,  of  the  conversation  held  around  him  by  Southerners : 
"  My  ears  were  shocked  at  hearing  this  subject  discussed 
in  the  English  tongue." 

O  O 

Such  are  the  principal  explanations  of  the  insurrec 
tion  ;  the  rest  are  not  worth  the  trouble  of  naming.  Has 
not  the  attempt  been  made,  after  all,  to  attribute  consid 
erable  importance  to  the  tariff?  I  do  not  believe  that, 
even  in  the  South,  a  single  man  could  be  found  willing  to 
maintain  that  this  question  had  any  share  in  the  last  elec 
tion,  or  that  it  was  thought  of  when  secession  was  pro- 


184  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

claimed.  It  is  easy  to  arrange  antitheses  in  Europe  : 
"  Here  the  agricultural  interest,  there  the  manufacturing 
interest ;  here  protection,  there  free  trade."  Without 
denying  the  opposition  of  interests,  I  believe  much  more 
in  their  unison  ;  and  as  to  the  chimerical  part  attributed 
to  the  tariff,  the  planters  think  like  me,  for,  by  the  con 
fession  of  Mr.  Stephens,  their  mouth-piece,  the  tariff 
which  was  in  force  when  they  seceded  was  the  result  of 
their  own  votes. 

There  was,  then,  but  one  question  in  1860 — that  of 
slavery. 

"But,"  it  is  objected,  "the  republican  party,  by  its 
own  admission,  does  not  pursue  abolition,  properly  called; 
it  thinks  only  of  non-extension." 

Yes,  certainly ;  and  what  do  you  conclude  from  it  ? 
Non-extension  contains  abolition ;  it  leads  to  it  neces 
sarily.  For  many  years,  the  problem  has  been  put  in 
these  terms;  some  demanding  extension,  others  reject 
ing  it,  all  knowing  that  this  first  point  once  resolved, 
the  rest  must  follow.  Two  roads  start  from  the  same 
point ;  the  question  is  to  know  whether  we  will  take  the 
first  or  second ;  the  whole  journey  is  comprised  in  the 
choice.  Will  it  be  said  that  the  travellers  who  thus  pro 
ceed  in  contrary  directions,  are  only  separated  at  first  by 
the  distance  of  a  few  steps,  and  that  this  signifies  nothing? 
But  the  separation  will  go  on  increasing  ;  directions  alone 
are  important  on  earth. 

Now,  the  electors  of  Mr.  Lincoln  have  done  a  great 
thing — they  have  changed  the  direction  hitherto  adopted 
by  their  country.  That  they  may  not  have  had,  with 
respect  to  slavery,  the  profound  hatred  and  energetic 
determination  which  might  have  been  desired,  I  do  not 
dispute.  I  believe  that  the  greater  number  were  im- 


SLAVERY    NOT   REALLY   IN   QUESTION.  185 

polled  less  by  the  need  of  protesting  against  a  moral  evil 
than  by  the  desire  of  combating  a  political  one.  This  is 
true  ;  yet,  notwithstanding,  without  having  the  design  to 
exterminate1  slavery,  they  had  a  design  whose  greatness 
cannot  be  contested,  since  they  thought  to  limit  it,  since 
they  cast  their  suffrages  for  the  man  who  had  expressed 
himself  thus  :  "  If  I  were  in  Congress,  and  the  proposition 
to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  new  territories  were  under 
discussion,  in  spite  of  the  Dred  Scott  decree,  I  would 

vote  for  its  prohibition We  must  endeavor 

to  overthrow  this  Dred  Scott  decision." 

The  Republican  party  in  general  was  not  abolitionist ; 
it  was  anti-slavery-propagandist — pardon  me,  for  once,  so 
barbarous  an  expression — without  abolishing,  it  wished  to 
check  it.  And  where  is  the  abolitionist  in  Europe  who 
would  not  have  leaped  for  joy  if  any  one  had  fort-told  to 
him,  three  or  four  years  ago,  that  the  extension  of  slavery 
was  about  to  be  checked  in  America?  For  myself,  I  con 
fess  that  I  have  long  desired  this,  and  nothing  else.  And 
I  have  never  thought  myself  modest  in  making  such  a 
wish. 

Behold  us  at  the  heart  of  the  argument ;  let  us  en 
deavor  to  form  a  just  idea  of  the  present  sentiments  of 
the  North,  the  intentions  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet, 
and  the  movement  of  public  opinion  with  respect  to 
slavery. 

I  begin  with  the  abolitionists.  They  did  not  make 
the  last  election,  although  they  contributed  their  share  to 
it :  they  do  not  direct  the  policy  of  the  Xorth,  although 
their  influence  may  make  itself  felt  there.  We  would 
wrong  the  United  States,  were  we  to  attribute  to  the 
abolitionist  party  the  monopoly  of  generous  sentiments  on 
the  subject  of  slavery.  Yet,  in  the  presence  of  this  great 


186  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

cause,  so  long  misunderstood,  but  which  is  now  advancing 
with  giant  strides,  it  is  impossible  not  to  think  with 
respect  of  those  valiant  men  who  have  stemmed  the  cur 
rent  of  interests  and  accepted  the  hatred  of  the  multitude  ; 
who,  without  even  speaking  of  their  martyrs,  have  sacri 
ficed  their  repose,  their  influence,  their  political  prospects, 
to  devote  themselves  to  the  defence  of  the  oppressed. 
Woe  to  the  country  where  the  name  of  Garrison,  of  Tap- 
pan,  of  Wendell  Phillips,  shall  not  be  honored  ! 

I  know  what  reproaches  a  considerable  number  of 
American  abolitionists  have  deserved.  There  are  some 
who,  like  Parker,  rebel  against  the  Gospel  in  which, 
strange  to  say,  they  fancy  that  they  discover  the  sanction 
of  slavery.  There  are  others  wrho  seem  not  to  be  fastid 
ious  with  respect  to  means — to  trample  the  Constitution 
under  foot,  to  emancipate  the  blacks  after  the  manner 
of  John  Brown,  to  accept  if  necessary  the  horrible  chance 
of  negro  insurrections — there  is  reason  to  suppose  them 
ready  for  these. 

I  shall  not  dwell  on  the  point.  As  a  system,  abo 
litionism  is  dead.  It  has  died  the  death  of  noble  causes, 
by  the  very  effect  of  its  own  triumph.  What  is  the  use 
of  an  abolition  party,  when  the  whole  North  is  about  to 
become  abolitionized  ? 

This  does  not  mean  that  the  North  has  already  be 
come  so.  Let  us  beware  of  that  feverish  impatience 
wThich  refuses  men  time  enough  to  be  sure  of  their  own 
minds !  When  wre  do  an  honorable  action,  we  never 
know  how  far  it  will  carry  us. 

The  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  will  carry  the  North  a 
great  way,  as  Europe  must  comprehend.  But  time  again 
is  needed.  On  the  morrow  of  the  election,  or,  if  we  will, 
on  the  morrow  of  the  fall  of  Sumter,  whatever  might  have 


SLAVERY    NOT   REALLY    IX    QUESTION.  187 

been  the  patriotic  unanimity  of  the  North,  it  nevertheless 
included,  side  by  side,  the  victors  and  the  vanquished, 
the  friends  and  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  Repub 
licans  and  the  Democrats.  Thence  arose  a  complicated 
position,  the  difficulties  of  which  were  evident. 

If  the  Republicans  themselves  were  then  far  from 
measuring  the  full  scope  of  their  triumph,  the  Democrats 
mingled  with  the  indignation  caused  by  the  revolt  of  the 
South,  a  persistent  tendency  to  compromises.  The  party 
of  Mr.  Douglas  certainly  cared  little  to  enteu  into  direct 
conflict  with  slavery,  and  the  party  of  Mr.  Crittenden  in 
the  Border  States  cared  still  less  to  do  so — Mr.  Critten 
den,  who  published  descriptions  of  fugitive  slaves  in  the 
newspapers,  with  the  promise  of  "  two  hundred  dollars 
reward." 

Composed  of  such  elements,  the  public  opinion  of  the 
North  could  not  be  impelled  at  the  first  onset  to  decisive 
measures;  a  considerable  party  was  necessarily  found, 
obstinate  in  dreaming  as  long  as  possible  of  the  return 
of  the  South  and  negotiations  with  the  South,  and  deter 
mined  not  to  give  umbrage  to  the  staggering  fidelity  of 
the  Border  States. 

Sentiments  of  this  sort  were  several  times  manifested 
with  extreme  violence.  Abolition  presses  were  destroyed, 
and  abolition  meetings  dispersed  or  hissed  down  in  Ohio, 
Illinois  and  Massachusetts.  The  watchword  was  "  Union, 
not  abolition."  For  the  Union,  for  the  Constitution,  lives 
by  thousands,  and  dollars  by  millions  were  promised  and 
given  ;  for  the  destruction  of  slavery,  was  promised  neither 
a  dollar  nor  a  drop  of  blood. 

This  is  the  fact  ;  I  do  not  seek  to  paint  it  in  ideal 
colors.  If  I  do  not  greatly  admire  it,  neither  does  it 
succeed  in  rousing  my  indignation.  Is  it  not  in  accord 
ance  with  the  necessary  progress  of  human  events  ?  Does 
9 


188          ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

it  ever  happen  on  earth,  that  a  nation  engaged  in  a  laud 
able  work  maintains  itself  on  the  level  of  its  principle  ? 
Our  works  are  always  greater  than  we. 

The  North,  moreover,  is  more  conscious  than  is  sup 
posed  of  the  goal  toward  which  it  is  advancing.  This 
intelligent  and  reflective  people  is  not  ignorant  that 
abolition  is  at  the  end,  only  it  wishes  to  do  one  thing 
after  another.  To-day,  Avar ;  to-morrow,  .  .  .  For 
the  war,  all  are  needed ;  we  will  therefore  put  aside 
every  thing  that  can  divide  us.  The  question  of  slavery 
makes  its  way  naturally,  necessarily,  as  a  carriage  glides 
down  the  inclined  plane  on  which  it  is  placed.  The 
American  people,  let  us  not  forget,  placed  it  upon  this 
inclined  plane,  when,  in  spite  of  threats,  and  in  the  face 
of  an  appalling  crisis,  it  resolutely,  to  resist  the  excess  of 
evil,  adopted  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln. 

In  setting  forth  the  moral  position  of  the  North,  I 
defined  Mr,  Lincoln's  position  in  advance  ;  lie  represents 
with  marvellous  fidelity,  the  country  by  which  he  was 
elected. 

A  Kentuckian  by  birth,  and  the  fast  friend  of  two  able 
Kentuckians — Messrs.  Holt  and  Crittenden — who  urge 
him  to  circumspection,  Mr.  Lincoln  is  evidently  not  a 
stranger  to  that  fever  of  compromises  which  seems  to 
run  in  the  American  blood.  He  will  go  on  to  the  end, 
but  he  will  proceed  thither  step  by  step.  A  slow  gait  is 
most  in  conformity  with  his  nature.  The  declared  enemy 
of  the  progress  of  slavery,  he  would  fear  too  hastily  to 
approach  the  problem  of  abolition. 

I  do  not  impute  this  to  him  as  a  crime,  for  I  feel  as 
much  as  any  one  with  what  prudence  the  strongest  con 
viction  should  be  armed.  A  special  prudence,  moreover, 
is  almost  always  imposed  on  men  by  high  position  and 
grave  responsibility  ;  considered  from  high  or  low,  by  the 


SLAVERY   NOT   REALLY   IN    QUESTION.  180 

head  of  a  State  or  by  the  first  corner,  questions  do  not,  and 
should  not,  present  the  same  aspect.  .But,  aside  from  this 
legitimate  prudence,  there  is,  it  seems  to  me,  a  natural, 
and  in  some  sort  innate,  tendency  in  Mr.  Lincoln  to  seek 
the  middle  course.  In  his  great  electoral  campaign,  he 
made  no  absolute  pledges  either  lor  the  abrogation  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Law  or  lor  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  ;  while  manifesting  the  desire  to  remedy 
the  wrong,  he  did  not  for  a  moment  lose  sight  of  the  dif 
ficulties  and  inconveniences  of  the  remedy.  No  one  was 
more  anxious  than  he  to  respect  State  sovereignty  and 
avoid  whatever  might  give  the  government  a  "  sectional " 
appearance. 

Although,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  I  prefer  the  most 
decided  characters  and  entire  convictions,  I  am  not  blind, 
notwithstanding,  to  the  advantage,  in  the  present  circum 
stances,  of  so  moderate  a  President.  I  experienced  a 
feeling  of  respect — I,  who  so  ardently  desire  the  abolition 
of  slavery — when  1  saw  3Ir.  Lincoln,  taking  his  oaths  and 
the  Constitution  in  earnest,  hesitate  for  several  hours  to 
sign  the  law  of  Congress  which  declared  free  all  slaves  of 
rebels  employed  in  arms  against  the  Xorth.  lie  finally 
signed  it,  and  he  did  right ;  the  condition  of  war  confers 
certain  exceptional  rights  on  the  head  of  the  State,  who 
is  also  the  head  of  the  army.  To  fetter  the  movement 
would  have  been  a  great  mistake,  but  to  precipitate  it 
would  have  been  a  still  greater  one.  It  belonged  to  the 
President,  above  all,  to  strive  to  maintain  intact  the  una 
nimity  of  the  Xorth  by  avoiding  to  wound  the  Border 
States,  which  will  be  henceforth  faithful,  by  too  abrupt 
measures,  and  also  by  regarding  the  feelings  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  party,  which  is  daily  becoming  more  favorable  to 
the  cause  of  emancipation,  but  which  cannot  in  a  moment 
leap  over  the  space  which  separates  it  from  the  Repub- 


190  ERRORS    CREDITED   IN  EUROPE. 

licans.  Enough  for  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof;  in  propor 
tion  as  we  advance,  in  proportion  as  the  public  opinion 
of  the  North  shapes  itself  in  the  direction  of  progressive 
emancipation,  Mr.  Lincoln  can  take  measures  impossible 
at  the  outset. 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  acted  with  reason  and  humanity  in 
refusing  the  negro  regiments  offered  him  by  the  refugees 
of  Canada,  as  well  as  in  averting  as  long  as  possible  meas 
ures  calculated  to  stir  up  slave  insurrections  in  the  South. 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  endeavored  to  strengthen  his  cabinet 
in  its  resistance  to  the  ultra  abolitionists.  Has  he  never 
gone  too  far  in  this  direction  ?  I  will  not  deny  it.  The 
removal  of  Mr.  Fremont,  though  we  may  not  be  in  a 
position  to  judge  fully  of  it  in  Europe,  has  grieved  the 
friends  of  liberty  among-  us. 


- 


But  how  many  redeeming  measures  have  there  been! 
Mr.  Lincoln,  let  us  not  forget,  has  abolished  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  in  fact;*  has  given  the  most  liberal  orders  con 
cerning  negroes  to  his  generals;  has  announced,  in  fine — 
and  this  is  prodigious  progress — that  diplomatic  relations 
will  be  opened  with  the  two  black  republics,  Liberia  and 
Hayti.  These  first  acts  give  hopes  of  others ;  I  await 
them  with  full  confidence. 

It  was  not  useless  to  give  instructions  to  the  generals. 

Several  among  them,  seeming  to  mistake  the  high  end 
of  the  American  movement,  and  carrying  to  extremes 
the  desire  of  taking  away  all  abolitionist  character  from 
the  war,  had  well-nigh  transformed  their  soldiers  into 
slave  catchers,  and  their  camps  into  prisons.  Slaves,  alas ! 
had  been  put  in  irons,  whipped,  and  restored  to  their 
masters  !  One  hardly  dares  think  of  the  consequences 

*  The  recent  execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  and.  else  where,  proves  that  Count  de  Gasparin  was  unfortu 
nately  mistaken  in  supposing  it  a  dead  letter. — TR. 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IN    QUESTION.  191 

of  such  deeds.  Thank  God !  they  have  become  hence 
forth  impossible;  the  August  circular  lias  regulated  the 
matter  in  the  most  liberal  manner — to  receive  fugitive 
slaves,  to  employ  them  in  the  quality  of  free  men  in  ex 
change  for  wages,  to  reserve  the  regulation  of  the  indem 
nity  due  the  master,  if  the  latter  be  not  a  rebel — such 
are  the  principles  laid  down  by  the  minister  of  war. 

General  Fremont  went  further.  His  proclamation, 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  has  modified,  went  beyond  the  limits 
set  by  Congress,  and  constituted,  consequently,  an  excess 
of  power  which  the  President  was  right  in  repressing, 
notwithstanding  the  generous  feeling  which  Mr.  Fremont 
had  inspired.  lie  had  other  faults  besides  ;  an  ostentatious 
body-guard,  extravagant  expenses,  lack  of  administrative 
capacity  —  such  arc  the  reproaches  which  have  been 
brought  against  him.  It  is  added,  but  this  is  a  question 
which  it  does  not  belong  to  us  to  examine,  that,  despite 
his  eminent  skill  as  an  engineer  and  explorer,  he  was  a, 
bad  general  ;  that  he  had  failed  to  send  timely  aid,  either 
to  the  heroic  Lyon,  the  defenders  of  Lexington,  or  the 
main  body  of  the  army  overwhelmed  at  Springfield;  that, 
in  fine,  the  principal  expedition  of  the  war,  that  of  the 
Mississippi,  was  imperilled  in  his  hands. 

Once  more,  we  are  not  the  judges.  Mr.  Fremont  has 
energetically  protested  against  the  report  of  Adjutant- 
General  Thomas,  which  served  as  the  basis  of  his  recall, 
and  which  events  have  taken  pleasure  ever  since  in  con 
tradicting  on  all  points.  Perhaps  Mr.  Fremont  has  been 
unjustly  sacrificed  ;  however  this  may  be,  it  is  difficult 
not  to  regret  that  the  most  rigorous  act  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
should  have  happened  to  fall  upon  so  excellent  a  man. 
The  Pathfinder  enjoys  an  immense  popularity  in  the 
United  States,  in  which  is  associated  Mrs.  Fremont,  famil 
iarly  called  "  Our  Jessie"  whom  the  army  of  Missouri 


192  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN   EUROPE. 

has  seen  marching  by  the  side  of  her  husband.  Mr.  Fre 
mont  represented,  in  the  eyes  of  Europe,  a  liberal  and 
generous  tendency,  which  has  been  believed,  doubtless 
without  reason,  to  be  involved  in  his  disgrace. 

It  added  to  the  prestige  of  Mr.  Fremont  that  his  re 
call  reached  him  at  the  moment  when  he  was  in  pursuit 
of  the  enemy,  and  almost  on  the  eve  of  a  battle.  His 
Springfield  proclamation  is  stamped  with  a  patriotic  sad 
ness,  with  which  it  is  impossible  not  to  be  touched.  In 
taking  leave  of  his  enthusiastic  and  exasperated  soldiers, 
the  sole  thought  of  the  general  was  how  to  appease  their 
wrath,  to  maintain  discipline,  and  to  transmit  intact  to 
his  happier  successor,  this  army,  sure  of  obtaining  the 
victory. 

There  are  words  here  that  quicken  the  pulses  of  the 
soul,  words  such  as  we  have  heard  too  seldom  from 
America  during  the  past  year.  It  has  therefore  been  in 
cumbent  on  me  to  pause  at  this  incident,  and  briefly  to 
narrate  the  feelings  of  Europe  on  seeing  this  general  re 
moved  in  the  very  face  of  the  enemy.  If  there  be  error, 
as  I  am  inclined  to  believe,  it  will  be  repaired  ;  if  Mr. 
Fremont,  despite  his  eminent  qualities  in  other  respects,  be 
scarcely  capable  of  commanding  an  army,  he  will  none  the 
less  remain  one  of  the  loftiest  characters  in  America,  as  his 
conduct  at  the  moment  of  his  disgrace  will  remain  one  of 
the  glorious  facts  of  our  time. 

In  any  case,  I  am  happy  to  say  that  his  removal  can 
not  be  explained  by  the  motive  that  some  have  affected 
to  suspect  in  it.  It  was  not  in  the  capacity  of  abolitionist 
that  he  was  set  aside ;  for,  on  the  one  hand,  he  had  ac 
cepted  the  modification  introduced  by  the  President  into 
his  proclamation,  and,  on  the  other,  the  minister  of  war 
who  proposed  his  recall  was  a  more  pronounced  abolitionist 
than  himself. 


SLAVERY   NOT   REALLY    IN    QUESTION.  193 

One  would  say,  indeed,  to  hear  some  persons,  that  Mr. 
Lincoln's  government  had  been  signalized  by  no  progress, 
with  regard  to  the  liberty  of  the  negroes.  I  recalled  a 
few  facts  of  this  sort,  just  now  ;  but  there  are  others 
which  must  be  mentioned. 

On  the  4th  of  December,  a  letter  of  instructions 
was  addressed  by  the  Secretary  of  State  to  General 
McClellan,  which  leaves  room  ibr  no  misunderstanding 
with  respect  to  fugitive  slaves  :  "  Instead  of  imprisoning 
them,"  says  Mr.  Seward,  "  we  should  imprison  those  who 
pursue  them." 

A  fugitive  slave  was  arrested  in  Washington,  con 
formably  to  the  celebrated  Fugitive  Slave  Law.  The 
government  ordered  his  immediate  liberation. 

The  instructions  given  to  the  naval  expeditions  des 
tined  for  the  South,  contain  these  explicit  commands  •* 
"You  are  at  liberty  to  accept  all  services,  whether  of 
fugitives  or  others,  that  may  be  offered  to  the  National 
Government.  You  are  to  assure  loyal  .owners  that  Con 
gress  will  secure  them  a  just  compensation." 

Congress,  on  its  side,  has  not  remained  inactive.  It 
has  ordered  an  inquiry  concerning  certain  slaves  still  im 
prisoned  in  the  jails  at  Washington.  It  lias  several  plans 
before  it,  the  openly  abolitionist  character  of  which  can 
not  be  contested.  Called  by  the  last  message  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln  to  the  discussion  of  grave  questions,  all  relating  to 
emancipation,  it  does  not  appear  far  from  entering  upon 
more  decisive  measures  than  were  announced  in  its  Con 
fiscation  Bill. 

One  fact  among  others  permits  us  to  measure  the 
distance  already  passed  over  since  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln.  It  will  be  remembered  that,  under  his  prede 
cessors,  the  slave  trade  was  in  full  prosperity.  In  the 
space  of  a  year,  more  than  a  hundred  vessels  had  been 


194  EEEOES    CREDITED    IN   EUROPE. 

fitted  out  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  and  if 
there  had  been  a  few  prosecutions  here  and  there,  they 
had  never  been  followed  by  any  severe  sentence.  This 
was  the  time  when  Mr.  Slidcl!,  one  of  the  commissioners 
seized  the  other  day  on  board  the  Trent,  offered  resolu 
tions  in  the  Senate,  requesting  the  President  to  signify  to 
the  other  powers  that  America  would  no  longer  furnish 
her  quota  of  cruisers  on  the  African  coast.  To-day,  things 
have  greatly  changed  :  for  the  first  time  for  many  years, 
the  captain  of  a  slaver  has  been  sentenced  to  death  for 
the  crime  of  piracy.  Still  more,  despite  the  repugnance 
inspired  in  Mr.  Lincoln  by  the  penalty  of  death,  despite 
the  unheard-of  efforts  of  the  friends  of  the  condemned  for 
his  life,  his  execution  has  taken  place.  We  may  judge  by 
this  that  the  epoch  of  acts  of  violence  against  English 
cruisers,  of  enterprises  against  Cuba,  of  Ostend  confer 
ences,  and  of  programmes  signed  by  Messrs.  Buchanan, 
Mason,  and  Slidell,  in  favor  of  an  unlimited  extension  of 
slavery,  are  left  behind, 

The  progress  of  public  opinion  is  rapid,  and  the  de 
scription  which  I  just  gave  of  the  position  of  parties 
in  the  North,  will  soon  cease  to  be  correct.  A  work  is 
being  silently  accomplished  in  the  heart  of  American 
society,  the  results  of  which  will  not  be  long  in  appear 
ing.  The  conviction  that  slavery  is  the  great  criminal, 
that  slavery  must  perish,  and  that  without  this  there  is 
nothing  really  done,  is  continually  gaining  ground. 
"  There  is  a  moral  principle  in  our  war.  "Whence  came 
our  debasement  ?  Why  is  the  uprising  of  our  people  now 
necessary  ?  Slavery  has  done  it.  Slavery  is  the  arch 
rebel,  the  great  traitor,  the  sole  traitor,  in  reality ;  the 
whole  rebellion  is  contained  in  slavery."  Such  are  the 
ideas  and  words,  unpopular  or  distrusted  at  first,  which 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IN    QUESTION.  195 

are  now  in  every  one's  mouth.  The  Democrats  them 
selves  are  inclining  to  this  side.  It  seems  absurd  to  all 
to  contend  purely  and  simply  to  restore  the  condition 
which  gave  rise  to  the  civil  war.  If  nothing  else  were 
wished,  of  what  use  has  it  been  to  elect  Mr.  Lincoln, 
brave  a  destructive  crisis,  sacrifice  thousands  of  lives,  and 
add  millions  to  the  public  debt  ? 

The  good  sense  of  the  Americans  thus  acts  its  part  by 
coming  to  the  aid  of  their  conscience.  The  moral  nature 
of  the  conflict,  confused  at  first  in  the  eyes  of  many, 
constantly  reveals  itself  more  and  more  in  its  majesty. 
It  is  with  this  as  with  all  generous  causes — it  grows  and 
strengthens  as  it  goes  on,  vires  wquirit  crudo. 

The  influence,  of  the  war  has  been  decisive  in  this 
respect.  The  balls  that  pierced  Ellsworth  and  Lyon 
slew  the  prejudices  among  thousands  of  men  which  still 
beset  their  minds  and  hindered  them  from  clearly  dis 
cerning  the  scope  of  the  last  presidential  election.  It  is 
henceforth  impossible  for  the  war  to  end  without  giving 
to  slavery  the  blow  that  must  destroy  it,  sooner  or  later. 
Charles  Sunnier  eloquently  expressed  this  thought  in  the 
late  Republican  convention  at  Worcester  :  u  Contemplate 
the  war,  study  it  on  all  sides  ;  you  will  always  see  slavery 
as  the  sole  cause  of  its  evils."  Never  were  the  words  of 
the  Roman  orator  more  applicable  :  JSTullum  f acinus  ex- 
titit  nisi  perte,  mallum  flayitium  sine  tc.  Slavery  is  the 
cause  of  the  war:  it  is  its  power,  its  end,  its  aim,  its  all. 
It  is  often  said  that  the  war  will  put  an  end  to  slavery ; 
this  is  probable,  but  what  is  still  more  probable  is  that 
the  abolition  of  slavery  will  put  an  end  to  the  war! 

The  popular  excitement  is  such  that  there  is  reason 
sometimes  to  fear  too  hasty  movements.  The  warmest 
abolition  feeling  is  propairated  in  the  immense  army  of 
9* 


196  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

the  North,  and  whole  regiments  have  been  seen  march 
ing  through  Northern  cities  to  the  John  Brown  song  : 

"  John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  ground  ; 
His  soul's  marching  on." 

We  remember  the  strange  speech  of  Colonel  Cochrane. 
and  the  still  stranger  approbation  which  was  so  openly 
given  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Cameron,  when  the 
question  was  nothing  less  than  that  of  urging  the  arming 
of  the  slaves.  It  is  possible,  doubtless,  that  the  power  of 
events  may  carry  America  thus  far  ;  social  revolutions 
often  carry  a  blind  force  within  themselves,  to  which  the 
wisest  can  offer  but  a  weak  resistance  ;  but  the  friends 
of  the  negroes  will  be  the  lirst  in  this  event  to  deplore 
such  impetuosity. 

I  readily  comprehend  wrhy  Mr.  Lincoln  exposes  him 
self  to  the  reproach  of  ultra  moderation,  rather  than 
endure  the  yoke  of  the  Jacobins  of  abolition.  When 
General  Phelps,  in  his  address  to  the  people  of  Louisiana 
and  Mississippi,  proclaimed  in  strong  terms  the  hatred  of 
Anglo-Saxons  to  slavery,  he  might  be  accused  of  going  a 
little  too  fast ;  nevertheless,  there  was  nothing  in  this 
directly  to  instigate  negro  insurrections.  Any  thing  that 
should  go  further  would  be  strongly  opposed. 

There  is  a  party  in  Congress  which  would  not  recoil 
before  extreme  measures,  and  which  would  gladly  ensure 
its  success  in  the  beginning  by  obtaining  the  removal  of 
General  McClellan.  Mr.  Lincoln  acts  like  himself  in  re 
sisting  this  party,  in  striking  out  a  part  of  Mr.  Cameron's 
report,  in  replacing  him  by  a  more  conservative  minister, 
in  giving  his  support  to  the  young  commander-in-chief,  in 
declaring  himself  ready  to  adopt  measures  conducive  to 
emancipation,  without  accepting  those  which  would  en 
gender  civil  war. 


SLAVERY    NOT   REALLY   IN    QUESTION.  197 

Do  you  remember  that  admirable  speech  of  Mrs. 
Stowe :  "  Great  pity  makes  us  pause."  Yes,  at  the 
thought  of  servile  war  (she  said  this  to  England,  which 
did  not  yet  comprehend  prudent  progress,  but  confound 
ed  it  with  inaction) — at  the  thought  of  servile  war,  great 
pity  should  make  us  pause  ;  pity  for  the  whites  and  pity 
for  the  blacks.  Picture  to  yourself  three  or  four  millions 
of  negroes,  roaming  over  the  plantations  with  lire  and 
sword  in  hand  !  It  is  the  only  calamity,  perhaps,  that 
may  be  compared  with  slavery.  Ah  !  let  us  not  ensan 
guine  the  cause  we  love ;  let  us  not  dishonor  the  flag  of 
abolition  ;  let  us  remember  that  such  is  riot  the  method 
of  the  Gospel ! 

If  any  thing  were  capable  of  justifying  the  Southern 
rebellion,  it  would  be  these  negro  insurrections.  "  You 
see  for  yourselves,"  they  say ;  "  we  are  fighting  for  our  lives, 
and  the  honor  of  our  wives  and  daughters;  emancipation 
among  us  would  be  necessarily  a  second  St.  Domingo." 

Those  who  cling  to  the  honor  of  the  North  and  of 
abolition,  should  strive  before  every  thing  not  to  author 
ize  such  language.  If  a  few  negro  insurrections  take 
place,  it  is,  perhaps,  inevitable  ;  the  responsibility  of  them 
at  least  must  not  rest  on  the  friends  of  liberty.  Their 
work — and  I  praise  Mr.  Lincoln  for  having  so  well  com 
prehended  it — is  a  work  of  love  and  peace.  They  know 
that  to  organize  negro  insurrections  would  be  to  condemn 
this  unhappy  race  to  a  remediless  degradation.  Emanci 
pations  effected  in  this  wise  never  lead  to  true  liberty ; 
look  at  Hayti,  and  compare  it  with  the  English  West 
Indies ! 

Who  knows,  besides,  whether  slave  insurrections  would 
not  bring  about  a  violent  reaction  in  the  North  itself? 
Perchance  the  Federal  armies  would  with  their  owTn 
hands  suppress  these  criminal  attempts  on  the  lives  of 


198  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

fellow  citizens,  friends  and  relatives.  In  any  case,  the 
public  opinion  of  the  whole  world  would  turn  aside  with 
horror;  at  the  story  of  the  massacres,  we  should  begin  to 
curse  freedom.  Do  we  not  know  that  liberty  suffers  more 
from  the  errors  of  its  partisans  than  from  the  attacks  of 
its  adversaries  ? 

Then  a  crime  is  a  crime ;  we  must  always  come  back 
to  this.  By  the  side  of  this  conscientious  reason,  all 
arguments  of  utility  grow  dim.  Xo  crime,  at  any  price, 
for  a  holy  cause  !  Such  is  our  cry ;  America  will  hear  it. 

Let  it  not  be  maintained,  moreover,  that  slave  insur 
rections  are  impossible.  I  am  not  ignorant  that  the  South, 
with  the  boasting  imprudence  which  characterizes  it, 
lately  argued  against  the  Xorth  the  tranquillity  of  its 
negroes,  thus  making  a  weapon  of  the  very  peace  ensured 
it  by  the  moderation  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  Southern  jour 
nals  have  talked  loudly  of  negro  battalions,  full  of  ardor, 
and  anxious  to  give  a  good  lesson  to  the  abolitionists. 

And  how  could  the  negroes  of  the  South  help  showing 
enthusiasm  ?  A  slave  has  the  feelings  which  he  is  com 
manded  to  have,  until  the  moment  when  his  true  senti 
ments  are  at  liberty  to  break  out.  Will  they  never  break 
out  ?  God  only  knows.  I  suppose  at  all  events  that  the 
people  of  Virginia  have  not  forgotten  the  insurrection  of 
1831,  Nat  Turner,  and  the  two  days'  massacre.  Denmark 
Vesey  and  his  accomplices  are  doubtless  still  remembered 
at  Charleston.  They  were  numbered  by  thousands  ;  their 
heroic  silence  wearied  the  executioners  ;  the  whole  State 
was  a  prey  to  terror.  Yet  madmen  now  exclaim  that 
slave  insurrections  are  impossible. 

I  have  pointed  out  the  danger  of  going  too  fast ;  I 
shall  no  more  deny  the  danger  of  going  too  slowly. 

As  it  is  honorable  to  resist  radical  measures  and  repu- 


SLAVERY    NOT    KEALLY    IX    QUESTION.  199 

diatc  the  aid  of  slave  insurrections,  so  it  would  be  shame 
ful  still  to  retain  in  the  heart  any  lurking  thought  of  com 
promise.  That  there  may  be  such  thoughts  in  the  Xorth 
it  would  be  absurd  to  deny  ;  to  obtain  the  restoration  of 
the  Union  as  it  was  is  the  ideal  of  a  few.  Happily,  their 
projects  are  outgrown  and  forever  repudiated  by  the 
public  conscience,  and  their  success,  were  it  for  an  instant 
possible,  would  call  forth  an  irresistible  reaction. 

Inquiry  should  long  since  have  been  made  con 
cerning  the  slaves  imprisoned  at  AVashington.  The  cau 
tious  language  which  is  still  used  at  times  toward  the 
shorn  majesty  of  slavery,  the  twisted  language  which  is 
used  sometimes  as  if  to  steer  clear  of  the  great  issues  of 
the  American  movement,  are  not  of  a  nature  to  call 
forth  sympathies. 

Sympathies  are  the  first  of  all  powers  in  such  a  con 
flict.  Simple  ideas,  clearly  expressed,  alone  make  con 
verts.  The  United  States  now  have  soldiers,  vessels,  and 
munitions  in  abundance  ;  what  they  lack  most  of  all  is 
the  energetic  manifestation  of  the  idea  for  which  they  arc 
struggling.  Their  regiments  need  to  be  reenforccd  by 
ideas.  Xo  one  must  be  longer  deceived  therein,  cither 
in  the  North  or  the  South,  in  America  or  Europe.  Jus 
tice  must  be  made  manifest.  The  war  must  be  in  the  eyes 
of  all  a  holy  war,  "a  war  which  we  can  pray  for." 

The  United  States  will  triumph  only  when  they  shall 
be  right  with  God — forgive  me  the  expression.  Their 
cause  is  good  ;  it  will  be  better  when  they  shall  have 
thoroughly  comprehended  it  themselves,  and  presented  it 
in  its  true  light.  God  awaits  this  moment.  There  are 
infamous  laws  to  be  revoked  and  acts  of  ignominy  to  be 
effaced.  This  can  be  done  without  adopting  plans  of 
radical  abolition,  and  without  instigating  slave  insurrec 
tions.  It  can  and  should  be  done  ;  else  God,  I  fear,  will 


200  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE, 

use  the  South  us  mi  avenging  rod,  and,  in  one  form  or 
another,  the  chastisement  will  endure  until  all  traces  of 
the  old  complicity  shall  be  blotted  out,  and  until  the 
North  shall  have  written  her  motto  upon  her  banner. 

Sufferings  and  reverses  play  the  part  of  Providence 
on  earth.  The  plagues  of  Egypt  continued  so  long  as 
Pharaoh  refused  consent  to  the  deliverance  of  the  children 
of  Israel.  The  first  important  act  of  emancipation  was 
not  passed  at  Washington  until  after  the  battle  of  Bull 
Kim.  The  liberation  of  slaves  was  not  proposed  at  Athens 
until  after  the  ChaTonea  battle-field,  and  the  orator  who 
made  the  motion  had  the  right  to  say,  "  It  is  not  that  I 
propose  it,  but  Chseronea." 

I  am  not  among  those  who  pretended  that  the  North 
is  "  advancing  backward "  toward  the  abolition  of 
slavery.  I  have  maintained,  on  the  contrary,  and  believe 
myself  to  have  proved  that  it  icittcd  its  non  extension, 
that  it  accepted  the  terrible  chances  of  the  crisis,  in  order 
to  effect  this  step,  prodigious  in  itself  and  the  guarantee 
of  all  the  rest.  But  these  new  steps  would  have  cost  it 
too  much ;  it  was  not  prepared  for  them.  The  parties 
which  are  coexistent  in  its  bosom,  and  many  of  which 
would  not  even  accept  the  first  measure,  since  they  re 
jected  Mr.  Lincoln,  still  embarrass  his  progress.  This  is 
quite  natural,  and  gives  no  reason  for  either  astonishment 
or  indignation.  As,  however,  all  progress  must  be  accom 
plished,  the  last  as  well  as  the  first,  God  sends  trials  which 
may  be  needed  to  overcome  resistance.  Who  knows 
whether  this  appalling  war  may  not  work  a  mysterious 
and  profound  change  in  the  South  itself?  Who  knows 
whether,  forced  to  be  regardful  of  their  slaves,  forced 
sometimes  to  entrust  arms  to  their  hands,  the  planters 
may  not  learn  unwittingly  that  slaves  are  men,  and  that 
the  doctrine  of  Mr.  Stephens  is  blasphemy  ? 


SLAVERY    NOT    KEALLY    IX    QUESTION.  201 

As  to  the  Xorth,  what  proves  but  too  well  that  its 
prejudices  are  not  all  destroyed,  is,  that  we  see  no  marked 
change  in  its  conduct  with  regard  to  free  persons  of  color. 
Where  are  the  States  that  have  ever  really  admitted 
them  to  the  exercise  of  political  rights?  Where  are  the 
churches,  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  that  have  taken  energetic 
and  public  measures  to  reestablish  in  their  bosom  equality 
according  to  the  Gospel  ?  Where  are  the  manifestations 
of  public-  opinion  in  this  direction?  Where  are  the 
meetings,  the  pamphlets,  the  editorials,  the  sermons? 
Herein — let  no  one  mistake  it — lies  the  special  crime  of 
the  North,  the  persistent,  and  in  some  sort  legitimate 
motive  of  European  distrust.  To  reform  our  own  con 
duct  is  the  first  condition  to  be  fulfilled  in  sec-king  to  cor 
rect  the  vices  of  others.  I  do  not  say  that  nothing  has 
been  done,  and  I  shall  take  occasion  hereafter  to  show 
that  some  advancement  has  been  made  in  the  right  way  ; 
I  will  say  at  present  that,  in  admitting  the  diplomatic 
envoys  of  Liberia  and  Ilayti,  in  introducing  two  negroes 
as  ambassadors  into  the  White  House,  Mr.  Lincoln  will  do 
something.  Nevertheless,  there  is  better  to  be  done — 
other  negroes  in  great  numbers  are  waiting  for  generous 
hands — patriotic  and  Christian  hands — to  introduce  them 
at  last  into  the  churches,  the  schools,  the  electoral  col 
leges,  the  public  vehicles.  A  great  reform  must  be  ac 
complished. 

It  is  difficult  to  conquer  one's  self;  but  America  is 
now  called  upon  to  attempt  difficult  things.  I  prefer 
pointing  out  the  great,  the  true  reform,  without  circumlo 
cution,  to  losing  myself  in  the  examination  of  the  twenty 
projects  wrhich  she  "has  to-day  under  consideration. 
There  are  petitions  addressed  to  Congress ;  there  are 


202  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

plans  drawn  up  by  military  committees ;  there  are  indi 
vidual  propositions. 

The  common  feature  of  all  these  projects  is  abolition 
by  means  of  the  war.  The  exceptional  rights  to  which 
the  war  gives  birth  furnish,  indeed,  a  natural  occasion  to 
surmount  certain  constitutional  difficulties.  The  slaves 
are  one  of  the  resources  of  the  South  (until  they  become 
one  of  its  most  cruel  embarrassments) ;  their  presence  in 
the  field  confers  on  the  South  a  liberty  of  action  which 
the  North  does  not  possess — those  levies  of  men  effected 
without  injury  to  agriculture.  Why  not  strike  the  enemy 
where  he  is  most  vulnerable  ? 

As  soon  as  the  Federal  armies  advance  toward  the 
rebels,  the  inevitable  question  is  put:  "What  shall  we 
do  with  the  slaves  ? "  They  flock  into  the  camps  and 
offer  their  services.  It  becomes  impossible  to  postpone 
the  solution  of  all  these  unfinished  problems  until  the 
close  of  the  struggle. 

Now,  the  solution  has  been  furnished  by  one  of  the 
loftiest  and  most  generous  of  American  minds — John 
Quincy  Adams.  "  From  the  moment,"  said  he  in  Con 
gress,  May  25,  1 836  ;  "  from  the  moment  that  your  slave 
States  become  the  theatre  of  war,  the  war  power  becomes 
extended,  and  Congress  may,  in  particular,  fix  an  indem 
nity  for  slaves." 

On  June  7th,  1841,  Adams,  after  several  years  of  re 
flection,  maintained  that  an  universal  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  might  be  accomplished  by  means  of  the  exceptional 
powers  engendered  by  a  state  of  Avar.  Finally,  April  14, 
1842,  he  exclaimed  in  the  House  of  Representatives:  "The 
law  of  nations  is  this :  In  time  of  war,  military  authority 
takes  the  place  of  all  municipal  institutions,  including 

11  O 

slavery.  Then,  not  only  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  but  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  has 


SLAVERY    NOT    REALLY    IN    QUESTION.  203 

power    to    order    the     universal    emancipation     of    the 
slaves." 

I  comprehend,  certainly,  why  men  hesitate,  and  think 
this  universal  immolation  of  rights  at  the  feet  of  army 
generals,  too  radical.  Exceptional  measures  are  usually 
as  dangerous  as  convenient.  The  definitions  of  Adams, 
taken  as  a  whole,  may  be  contested.  Nevertheless,  it 
remains  evident  that  certain  powers  are  indispensable  to 
military  commanders ;  they  should  be  authorized  to  de 
prive  the  enemy  of  his  advantages,  and  whatever  serves 
their  operations  almost  always  becomes  lawful  by  this 
reason  alone.  Besides,  the  experiment  has  several  times 
been  made;  General  Gaines  and  a  number  of  others, 
twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  employed  slaves,  emancipated 
them  in  virtue  of  the  right  of  war,  maintained  that  no 
one  had  a  right  to  find  fault  with  it,  and  were  sustained, 
even  when  the  South  ruled  the  Union. 

This,  moreover,  is  only  a  means  of  resolving  local  dif 
ficulties.  As  to  the  general  question  of  abolition,  I  am 
at  rest.  Whatever  may  be  the  measure  adopted,  the 
social  transformation  will  run  its  course.  I  have  always 
found  it  impossible  to  feel  any  anxiety  on  the  subject  of 
slavery.  Since  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  know  that 
it  has  received  its  death-blow,  and  I  am  not  of  those  who 
believe  the  cause  lost  because  men  hesitate  or  postpone 
it  overmuch.  One  thing  is  evident — the  word  Union 
formerly  signified  "'slavery,'"  it  now  means  vi  liberty." 

Every  thing  is  comprised  therein.  That  among  those 
who  voted  for  this  change  and  are  laboring  to  accomplish 
it,  there  may  be  some,  many  perhaps,  who  have  not  com 
prehended  the  import  of  their  action,  cannot  surprise  me  ; 
the  most  glorious  revolutions  of  humanity  are  wrought 
in  this  wise.  It  is  rarelv  that  the  workers  have  full  knowl- 


204          ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

edge  of  their  work.  And  what  matters  it  ?  Is  their 
work  therefore  less  great  ?  If  many  men  have  wished 
but  half  that  they  have  done,  have  they  done  it  the  less 
for  this? 

This  is  the  beginning  of  the  end.  I  desire  no  other 
proof  of  it  than  what  is  passing  in  the  Border  States.  I 
have  spoken  already  of  the  remarkable  deliberations  of 
the  Missouri  Legislature,  and  have  said  that  the  interests  of 
slavery  were  still  its  ruling  anxiety ;  but  what  was  true 
in  1861  will  be  no  longer  as  true  in  1862  ;  the  progress  of 
minds  is  rapid.  Kentucky  is  advancing  still  faster ;  a  bill 
is  talked  of  there,  confiscating  the  property  of  rebels, 
"  including  slaves."  The  convention  of  Western  Virginia, 
which  has  created  the  new  State  of  Kanawha,  is  discussing 
plans  of  gradual  emancipation. 

Thus  everything  is  going  forward.  Those  abolitionists 
arc  very  timid  who  tremble  for  their  cause  !  Are  they 
then  unconscious  of  the  power  of  truth?  If  Mr.  Lincoln 
experiences  some  hesitation,  honorable  in  principle,  and 
which,  moreover,  will  not  last,  why  should  it  alarm  us  ? 
Things  are  here  more  powerful  than  men,  positions  of 
more  importance  than  programmes. 

I  feel  myself  endowed  with  an  abundant  stock  of  pa 
tience,  because  I  have  great  confidence.  I  cannot  succeed 
in  imagining  any  hypothesis,  union  or  separation,  victory 
of  the  North  or  the  South,  intervention  or  non-interven 
tion  of  Europe,  resolute  or  timid  policy  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
in  the  matter  of  Slavery — no,  I  cannot  fancy  a  single  one 
which  must  not  end  in  liberty.  There  are  impulses  which 
are  irresistible.  Do  not  pause  at  appearances,  nor  yet  at 
intentions ;  look  higher  than  man.  Justice  is  there ;  she 
will  make  herself  served  by  those  who  love  and  by  those 
who  mistake  her,  by  those  who  comprehend  her  and  by 
those  who  shut  their  eyes  to  her  light. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WE   ARE,  BEFORE   EVERYTHING,    TO    AVERT  CIVIL   WAR. 

I  DETEST  war  as  much  as  it  is  possible  for  any  one  to 
do,  but  I  am  accustomed  to  lay  the  blame  on  those  who 
make  it,  and  not  on  those  upon  whom  it  is  made.  When  I 
see  a  party  in  America,  devoid  of  all  scruples,  long  engaged 
in  making  ready  for  an  armed  struggle,  which  not  only  is 
treasonable,  but,  as  all  admit,  has  little  to  recommend  it  in 
its  cause,  it  is  not  for  its  opponents  that  I  reserve  my  in 
dignation.  It  is  useless  to  exclaim :  uXo  blood !  no  civil 
war!  cease  this  slaughter  among  brothers!"  We  must  say 
this  to  Charleston  before  saying  it  to  Boston  or  Cincinnati. 
This  government,  this  nation  infamously  attacked,  which  is 
striving  to  preserve  its  flag,  its  institutions  and  its  great 
ness,  and  which,  by  admirable  good  fortune,  is  at  the  same 
time  preserving  the  interests  of  liberty  and  justice,  does 
not  seem  to  me  committing  an  act  of  monstrous  ferocity. 

For  seventy  years,  it  has  lived  united  under  the  same 
laws  and  the  same  oaths ;  the  Congress  which  assembled 
at  Washington  on  the  2d  of  last  December,  was  the  thirty- 
seventh  of  the  United  States  ;  to  the  thirteen  original 
Stars,  twenty-one  others  have  been  successively  added — 
yet  you  wish  a  great  people  to  consent  to  a  mutilation 


206  ERRORS    CREDITED   IN   EUROPE. 

effected  by  rebellion.  France  and  England  had  not 
consulted  themselves  when  they  appeared  to  recommend 
t€>  Mr.  Lincoln  that  political  and  moral  abdication  styled 
"a  peaceful  separation." 

If  the  United  States  had  not  picked  up  the  gauntlet, 
Mr.  Lincoln  would  have  had  to  devote  his  whole  time  to  the 
signing  of  orders  of  evacuation — the  order  to  evacuate 
FortSumter;  the  order  to  evacuate  Fort  Pickcns ;  the 
order  to  evacuate  Key  West  and  the  Tortugas.  Then, 
doubtless,  for  one  need  not  fear  to  show  himself  some 
what  exacting  toward  people  so  accommodating,  the  Souh 
would  have  claimed  Maryland  as  a  Slave  State,  as  well  as 
Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  above  all  Washington,  the  capital 
of  the  Union.  The  surrender  of  Washington  was  the 
logical  conclusion  of  the  noble  principle  of  non-resistance 
which  we  extol  in  Europe  when  Americans  are  in 
question 

Mr.  Lincoln  has  not  certainly  been  lacking  in  patience. 
Every  one  remembers  his  inaugural  address.  He  announc 
ed  his  resolution  to  make  no  aggression,  but  simply  to  act 
the  defensive.  Well,  aggressions  took  place.  The  people 
of  Charleston  knew  full  well  that  the  garrison  of  Fort 
Sumter  could  commit  no  aggression  on  them  ;  they  had 
been  even  expressly  forewarned  of  it.  The  national  gov 
ernment,  carrying  the  spirit  of  conciliation  a  great  way, 
claimed  to  do  nothing  more  than  furnish  bread  to  a 
handful  of  famished  soldiers  ;  yet  the  insurgents  assailed 
Fort  Sumter,  and  deliberately  destroyed  all  chances  of 
peace. 

Gentleness,  I  repeat,  had  been  carried  a  little  too  far. 
Action !  action !  such  was  the  unanimous  cry  of  the 
North.  It  demanded,  and  with  reason,  some  proofs  of 
energy,  after  so  many  of  forbearance.  A  month  of  apparent 


CIVIL   WAR    TO    BE    AVERTED.  207 

inertia  was  a  long  time,  especially  in  the  face  of  the  mili 
tary  preparations  which  were  being  multiplied  on  the 
south  of  the  Potomac. 

I  add  that  Europe,  which  had  not  yet  invented  its 
theories  of  support,  was  beginning  to  manifest  its  disdain. 
The  North  had  therefore  a  foretaste  of  the  disgrace  that 
awaited  a  people  incapable  of  resistance,  which  should 
suffer  itself  to  be  insulted  and  dismembered  without  a 
word.  The  correspondence  of  the  English  journals  were 
filled  with  prophecies  of  this  sort  :  "The  North  has  lost 
all  its  vigor;  luxury,  and  the  worship  of  the  almighty 
dollar  have  rendered  it  incapable  of  the  least  sacrifice. 
There  will  be  no  war  ;  the  republican  party  will  drop 
its  candidate." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  predictions,  all 
contradicted  by  the  event  ;  which  does  not  hinder  the 
oracle  from  remaining  as  sure  of  itself  as  before,  and  from 
deciding  again  to-day,  with  unparalleled  assurance,  what 
ought  to  happen  four  months  hence.  I  say  this  in  pass 
ing,  lor  my  quotation  had  another  purpose;  I  wished  to 
call  to  mind  the  tone  in  which  the  words  were  then 
spoken  :  "  War  will  not  take  place  !  "  Those  very  persons 
who  have  since  unceasingly  reproached  the  North  for  the 
mad  cruelty  of  its  resistance  to  the  South,  were  preparing 
last  year,  in  March,  to  demonstrate,  by  the  absence  of 
war,  that  the  North  had  no  blood  in  her  veins  and  was 
deserving  of  nothing  but  contempt. 

I  prefer,  for  the  government  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  re 
proaches  of  this  year  to  those  of  the  last.  This  year, 
esteem  has  reappeared  ;  we  have  resumed  the  habit  of 
treating  the  United  States  as  a  great  people  ;  the  idea  of 
recognizing  the  South  is  no  longer  so  lightly  entertained. 
Ah  !  if  there  had  been  negotiations  at  the  time  when  the 
unarmed  North  found  herself  face  to  face  with  the  armed 


208  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

South  they  would  have  been  conducted  in  a  strange 
manner !  The  very  facility  with  which  the  title  of  bel 
ligerents  was  then  conferred  on  the  insurgents,  testifies  to 
the  disposition  of  Europe  when  she  believed  in  the  reso 
lution  of  the  South  and  the  benevolent  resignation  of  the 
North.  All  this  has  greatly  changed,  believe  me  ;  and 
has  changed  because  of  the  drawing  of  the  sword.  If 
now  the  day  should  ever  come  when  overtures  shall  be 
made,  either  by  Jefferson  Davis  or  by  the  European  gov 
ernments,  they  will  be  honorable  overtures ;  rendering 
homage  to  the  great  movement  which  proceeded  from  the 
election  of  Mr.  Lincoln ;  manifesting  the  value  of  princi 
ples  ;  establishing,  in  fine,  or  at  least  pretending  to  estab 
lish,  the  bases  of  a  progressive  emancipation. 

Energy  and  sell-respect  are  therefore  of  some  use. 
Their  first  result  was  to  call  forth  a  burst  of  patriotism 
in  all  the  free  States,  and  to  give  courage  in  the  Border 
States  to  majorities  in  favor  of  the  Union. 

It  is  injurious  to  listen  to  so  many  cold  railleries  against 
a  people  which  is  struggling  and  suffering  to  maintain  its 
threatened  unity.  The  idea  of  unity,  the  idea  of  country 
is  great — it  is  worth  the  blood  it  costs.  To  suppress  re 
bellions,  to  resist  the  diminution  of  territory  is  to  fulfil 
a  duty.  Woe  to  us,  if  we  ever  cease  to  see  in  it  an  in 
terest  of  the  highest  order.  For  my  part,  while  deplor 
ing  civil  war,  I  should  have  put  on  mourning  for  the 
United  States,  had  they  refused  to  fight,  bowing  the  head 
to  the  threats  of  the  South,  and  asking  its  pardon  in  some 
sort  for  having  dared  to  make,  despite  its  prohibition,  a 
constitutional  election.  After  wars  courageously  sus 
tained,  there  may  be  a  glorious  peace  ;  after  disgraceful 
submission,  there  is  nothing  but  shame  and  death. 

Other  governments,  I  know,  have  yielded  to  the  force 
of  circumstances;  none  have  yielded  to  mere  threats. 


CIVIL    WAR    TO    BE    AVERTED.  209 

Were  Scotland  to  secede  and  take  possession  of  the 
national  property,  forts  and  arsenals  ;  were  she  to  send 
ambassadors  to  the  continental  powers ;  were  she  to  re 
vive  letters  of  marque,  and  cruise  the  seas,  burning  Eng 
lish  merchant  vessels  ;  were  she  to  proclaim  her  design  of 
raising  the  rebel  flag  over  Buckingham  Palace,  all  Eng 
land  would  rise,  without  fearing  for  an  instant  that  this 
war  would  be  deemed,  perverse  or  fratricidal.  When 
shall  we  cease  to  have  two  weights  and  two  measures. 

That  a  war  like  that  of  America  should  be  pursued  in 
a  peaceful  spirit ;  that  all  thought  of  conquest,  subjuga 
tion,  or  reprisals  should  be  put  aside  ;  that  3Ir.  Lincoln 
should  never  lose  sight  of  his  maxim  :  u  We  are  lighting 
to  establish  order,  and,  with  order,  liberty — the  liberty  of 
the  conquered  will  remain  as  intact  as  that  of*  the  con 
querors,'*  I  am  profoundly  convinced,  and  I  shall  return 
to  the  subject.  I  applaud,  in  this  connection,  the  human 
ity  which,  despite  \he  inflexible  logic  of  principles,  has 
prevented  prisoners  of  war  from  being  treated  as  traitors, 
and  the  shedding  of  blood  outside  the  battle-iield.  But 
the  necessity,  the  duty  of  fighting  are  none  the  less  evi 
dent  to  me  for  this. 

Instead  of  betraying  his  solemn  oaths,  and  precipitat 
ing  the  United  States  into  final  dissolution  and  the  con 
tempt  of  the  whole  world,  Mr.  Lincoln  has  fulfilled,  sor 
rowfully,  slowly,  too  slowly  perhaps,  the  high  obligations 
imposed  on  him  by  circumstances ;  suffering  has  ap 
peared  to  him  preferable  to  death  ;  he  has  refused  to 
humble  the  stars  and  stripes  before  the  arrogant  banner 
of  slavery,  unfurled  in  the  face  of  the  nineteenth  century; 
he  has  deemed  war,  civil  war,  fratricidal  war,  better  than 
this  abasement.  What  right  have  we  to  cast  the  stone  at 
him? 


210  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

I  fear  sometimes  lest  we  become  hypocrites.  We 
veil  our  faces  at  the  mere  thought  of  a  country  depraved 
enough  to  oppose  an  insurrection,  to  enlist  troops,  to  in 
crease  taxes,  to  impose  on  itself  and  others  a  commercial 
crisis;  one  would  say  that  we  had  never  seen  the  like! 
Well !  I  will  make  a  full  confession.  Would  you  know 
what  wars  appear  to  me  impious  f  Those  of  ambition, 
and  love  of  power.  Wars  of  conquest  are  quite  as  crim 
inal,  though  in  a  different  manner,  in  the  sight  of  my 
conscience,  as  are  some  civil  wars. 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE   SOUTH    UAI)    A    RIGHT   TO    SECEDE. 

I  SHOULD  have  Mushed  to  dwell  upon  the  subject 
treated  of  in  the  preceding  chapter;  the  crime  of  armed 
defence  does  not  appear  to  me  one  for  which  it  is  lining 
to  justify  the  United  States  too  much  at  length.  The  new 
subject  which  I  broach  here  exacts  more  elaboration.  The 
right  of  secession  has  iriven  rise  to  so  many  misunderstand 
ings,  it  involves  political  questions  of  such  importance  that 
we  cannot  legitimately  refuse  it  attention. 

It  is  to  the  honor  of  our  times  that  questions  of  prin 
ciple  never  become  entirely  blotted  out.  Whatever  may 
happen,  by  the  side  of,  or  rather,  above  transient  conten 
tions,  the  immutable  problems  of  morality  and  right  make 
their  appearance  in  the  end. 

We  are  sometimes  astonished  at  the  place  which  the 
American  government  reserves  to  the  question  of  abstract 
right ! 

Nevertheless,  in  this  it  only  renders  justice  to  the  im 
portance  of  the  argument,  and  singles  out  the  features  of 
general  interest  to  all  nations.  There  is  more  here  than 
a  matter  for  judicial  dissertations  or  even  for  curious  re- 
10 


212  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

searches  into  the  nature  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States ;  there  is  resistance  to  a  subversive  doctrine,  in 
compatible  with  order,  and,  above  all,  with  liberty. 

This  has  been  imperfectly  understood  in  Europe.  The 
cabinet  at  Washington  has  seemed  to  us  to  devote  its  at 
tention  to  a  petty  side  of  the  difference  of  which  South 
Carolina  has  given  the  signal. — What  is  the  use  of  these 
judicial  and  almost  pedantic  dissertations?  Yield  or 
fight,  but  do  not  amuse  yourselves  in  demonstrating  that 
to  us  for  which  we  care  but  little  ;  namely,  that  the  right 
of  secession  does  not  exist.  Secessions  are  great  facts, 
violent  in  their  nature,  which  may  be  readily  assumed 
to  be  illegal  in  the  beginning ;  you  waste  your  time  in 
proving  it ! 

This  is  a  mistake ;  the  South  is  troubled  concerning 
its  legitimacy ;  the  right  of  secession  is  discussed  with 
lively  interest  everywhere,  and  particularly  in  the  Border 
States.  There  must  be  some  reason  for  this  state  of 
things.  For  my  part,  on  seeing  a  whole  people  attentive 
to  this  constitutional  and  moral  problem,  I  hesitate  to  de 
cide  from  afar  that  it  has  gone  astray.  It  seems  to  me 
unjust,  or  at  least  unfriendly,  to  reproach  the  federal 
government  for  the  importance  which  it  places  on  ques 
tions  of  this  kind.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  they  have 
been  always  regarded  with  great  attention  by  the  states 
men  of  the  United  States ;  there  is,  as  it  were,  an  Ameri 
can  tradition  which  ensures  them  respect. 

Mr.  Seward  remained  faithful  to  this  tradition,  when 
he  addressed  his  first  instructions  to  Mr.  Dayton.  "  You 
cannot  be  too  decided  in  making  known  the  fact  that 
there  never  has  been,  nor  ever  will  be,  the  least  idea  of 
permitting  a  separation  of  the  Union  to  take  place  in  any 

manner  whatsoever The  thought  of  a  dissolution 

of  the  Union,  peaceably  or  by  force,  has  never  entered  the 


SECESSION   A    RIGHT.  213 

mind  of  any  impartial  statesman  hero,  and  it  is  full  time 
that  European  statesmen  also  renounced  such  an  idea." 

I  applaud  the  American  government  for  having  given 
to  the  question  of  right  the  place  which  belongs  to  it.  A 
sentiment  of  which  we  know  little  in  Europe,  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  respect  for  law,  thus  manifests  its  power.  Yes, 
at  the  very  moment  when  force  alone  seemed  at  stake, 
principles  were  not  forgotten. 

Tliis  may  pass  for  folly  in  the  eyes  of  many.     To  con 
tend  in  the  name  of  the  right,  to  defend  a  constitution,  a 
national  Hag,   the  past  and  future  of  a  great  country- 
tins  is  nonsense,  they  say!     The  true  way  is  to  count  the\ 
chances   and  see  where    they  lie,  who   can  longest   keep 
the  field,  who  will  receive  in  the  end  the  support  of  Europe 
— as   to    compacts    and  pledged   oaths,  what    intelligent 
nation  cares  to-day  for  tilings  like  these! 

Thank  God  !  there  is  a  nation,  and  an  intelligent  na 
tion,  which  cares  for  them  infinitely.  I  say  it  to  the  honor 
of  the  United  States;  they  are  giving  us  a  lesson  which 
we  scarcely  expected  to  receive  from  this  direction.  Even 
though  slavery  did  not  form  the  basis  of  the  contest,  we 
should  be  interested  in  the  North,  since  it  defends  the 
right,  since  it  rejects  the  anarchical  doctrine  which  pre 
tends  to  protest  by  secession  against  a  constitutional 
election. 

Lord  Stanley  not  long  since  nobly  called  this  to  mind  : 
"Let  us  not  blame  that  in  America  which  we  have  always 
done  and  are  still  doing  ourselves — making  war  to  retain 
a  portion  of  our  territory." 

The  question  thus  presented,  aside  from  any  principle, 
will  be  better  understood  among  us.  Why  should  we 
wish  the  United  States  to  show  themselves  more  indiffer 
ent  than  we  to  the  territorial  greatness  of  their  country? 


214  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN   EUROPE. 

Of  course,  I  do  not  believe  that  no  separations  will  ever 
prevail.  "  Never  ! "  says  Mr.  Seward,  but  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  never  in  human  affairs.  To  carry  the  denial  of 
the  right  of  separation  so  far  as  to  affirm  the  eternity  of 
institutions,  would  be  madness.  It  would  give  cause  to 
say  that  extreme  right  is  extreme  injustice,  summum  jus 
summa  injuria.  As  it  is  true  that  in  strict  justice,  indi 
viduals  have  no  right  to  secede  nor  countries  to  fall  asun 
der  through  caprice,  so  it  is  certain  that  a  persevering 
determination,  which  firmly  sustains  a  struggle  and  sur 
vives  it,  will  end  by  conquering  for  itself  a  place  on  earth. 
J3y  the  side  of  the  right  of  secession  which  the  United 
States  contest,  and  which  they  are  right  in  contesting, 
there  is  the  right  of  revolution ;  pardon  me  this  compari 
son  .of  terms  ill  fitted  to  exist  together. 

As,  in  the  end,  modern  governments  rest  on  the  con 
sent  of  the  governed ;  as  it  is  impossible  to  hold  garrison 
eternally  in  disaffected  countries,  it  thence  follows  that 
when  the  separation  has  become  a  revolution,  violated 
right  (for  it  is  none  the  less  violated,  and  it  is  of  impor 
tance  that  this  should  be  understood)  submits  to  the 
presence  of  triumphant  fact.  It  will  be  certainly  neces 
sary  to  let  those  go  who  can  be  no  longer  retained  except 
by  the  lasting  use  of  force.  Free  institutions  would  per 
ish  in  the  effort,  through  enemies  or  despots,  were  they 
carried  on  in  these  conditions  of  persistent  struggle.  By 
this  course,  a  republican  government  would  speedily  be 
come  transformed  into  a  military  despotism. 

This  is  a  reservation  which  I  am  anxious  to  state  in 
explicit  terras.  Although  I  have  little  respect  for  the 
right  of  revolution,  I  perceive  that,  under  penalty  of  ad 
mitting  two  other  rights  still  more  odious,  the  right  of 
foreign  intervention  and  the  right  of  permanent  domestic 


SECESSION    A    RIGHT.  215 

oppression,  a  disruption  becomes  inevitable  in  the  end, 
when  it  is  desired  with  real  earnestness  by  whole  popu 
lations. 

But  this  exception  once  admitted,  (and  the  repudiation 
of  the  common  country  will  rarely  appear  among  great 
peoples,  nothing  less  than  an  exceptional  cause  like  slavery 
can  render  possible  a  fact  so  monstrous,)  AVC  will  lay  down 
the  general  rule-,  the  importance  of  which  seems  too 
often  forgotten  in  our  times,  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as 
the  right  of  secession. 

I  hear  it  affirmed  in  an  oracular  tone  that  the  new 
jurisprudence  of  nations  does  not  permit  the  use  of  coer 
cive  measures  !  Every  rebellion  constitutes  a  government 
de  fu<'to,  and  every  government  dc  J'n<-to  is  a  legitimate 
government!  To  tell  the  truth,  even,  we  are  no  longer 
justified  in  speaking  of  rebels!  The  contract  which  holds 
the  divers  parts  of  a  people  united,  deriving  its  validity 
only  from  the  consent  of  each  one,  as  soon  as  this  consent 
is  wanting,  the  contract  ceases  to  exist ! 

I  have  a  great  mind  to  oiler  no  other  refutation  of 
these  heresies  than  a  striking  comparison  borrowed 
from  a  recent  speech  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle.  "  Wo 
will  not  regard  the  question,"  said  he,  "  of  what  is  called 
the  right  of  secession :  no  government  has  ever  existed, 
to  my  knowledge,  admitting  the  right  of  separation 
within  itself.  There  is  a  curious  kind  of  star  fish  in  the 
waters  of  Loch  Fine,  which  I  myself  have  caught  several 
times,  and  which  effects  the  most  extraordinary  and  ad 
roit  species  of  suicide.  On  drawing  it  from  the  water 
and  attempting  to  remove  it  from  the  hook,  the  fins  im 
mediately  drop  olf,  the  body  falls  in  pieces,  and  of  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  forms  of  nature,  nothing  remains  but 
a  few  fragments.  Such  would  have  been  the  fate  of  the 
American  Union,  had  its  government  accepted  what  is 


216  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

called  the  right  of  secession.  Gentlemen,  we  must  admit 
iii  all  justice,  with  respect  to  Americans,  that  they  are 
fighting  for  things  that  are  worth  the  pains,  and  that  the 
national  existence  is  one  of  these  things." 

Yes,  the  national  existence.  This  idea  alone  contains 
the  unanswerable  refutation  of  what  is  called  the  right  of 
secession. — But  is  a  confederation  a  nation?  is  it  not 
rather  an  assemblage  of  nations  ?  \Ve  are  reminded  of  the 
celebrated  definition  of  Montesquieu  :  "  A  community  of 
communities." 

We  touch  here  upon  one  of  the  most  important  mis 
takes  made  by  European  opinion  with  respect  to  the 
United  States.  M.  de  Tocqueville  himself  seems  to  have 
but  imperfectly  understood  that,  under  this  somewhat  ill 
chosen  name  of  Confederation,  the  American  Union  pre 
sents  the  remarkable  phenomenon  of  a  state  sui  generis. 
Judging  it  from  its  title,  and  starting  from  the  true  prin 
ciple  that  the  bond  of  simple  confederations  is  unstable, 
he  decides  that  if  ever  any  portions  of  the  whole  should 
secede,  the  separation  could  be  in  no  wise  opposed. 

Now,  no  name  like  that  which  is  here  in  question,  can 
cover  things  so  dissimilar. 

There  are  in  the  first  place,  and  it  was  of  this  fact 
that  Montesquieu  was  evidently  thinking,  confederations 
which  are  nothing  else  than  leagues.  Antiquity  had  its 
Ainphictyonic  Council  and  Achean  League;  the  middle 
ages  had  their  Heptarchy,  and  Lombardic,  Suabian  and 
Hanseatic  confederations  :  the  modern  world  has  seen  the 
ancient  Low  Countries,  and  now  sees  the  Germanic  con 
federation.  These  are  truly  "  communities  of  commun 
ities."  The  general  government  is  well  nigh  null  and 
void ;  the  centre  of  political  life  resides  in  the  members. 
Each  of  them  is  a  complete  State,  possessing  the  totality 
of  political  rights,  and  often  the  right  of  maintaining  di- 


f 

SECESSION    A    RIGHT.  217 

plomatic  relations  with  foreign  countries  in  an  extended 
measure.  Confederations,  understood  in  this  wise,  the 
only  confederations,  to  tell  the  truth,  which  deserve  the 
name,  are  almost  always  models  of  political  impotence. 
Good  to  attain  certain  particular  ends,  such  as  defence 
for  a  limited  time  and  the  development  of  commercial 
interests — good,  in  a  word,  as  leagues,  they  are  incapable 
of  strong  resistance  and  of  duration.  It  is  difficult  for 
them  to  cope  with  great  centralized  states  ;  and,  as  to 
arresting  by  force  the  separation  of  their  members,  it  is 
evident  that  they  could  not  think  of  it,  provided  the 
design  of  separation  were  resolutely  adopted. 

[Switzerland,  under  its  ancient  compact,  presented  al 
ready  another  kind  of  confederation.  The  idea  of  a  league 
began  to  give  way  before1  the  idea  of  a  nation.  The 
central  power  was  invested  with  real  authority  ;  the  cantons, 
although  preserving  an  extended  sovereignty,  neverthe 
less  abandoned  to  the  diet  some  of  their  essential  attri 
butes.  Moreover,  the  mere  fact  of  a  popular  representation 
gave  to  the  collective  whole,  a  cohesion  which  the  con 
federation  of  princes  could  never  have  succeeded  in  at 
taining. 

Let  us  take  another  step.  The  present  compact  of 
Switzerland  furnishes  us  the  remarkable  realization  of  a 
third  form  of  confederation,  much  more  centralized  than 
the  Last.  The  referendum,  that  ancient  guardian  of  can 
tonal  sovereignties,  has  entirely  disappeared.  We  see, 
moreover,  assemblies  sitting  at  Berne,  whose  decisions 
have  the  force  of  law ;  a  federal  council  which  governs  in 
the  full  meaning  of  the  word  the  interests  of  all  the  cantons. 
The  latter  remain,  notwithstanding,  and  their  individual 
existence  is  not  impaired  ;  only  they  have  divested  them 
selves  of  authority  in  behalf  of  the  centre.  Duties,  po 
litical  treaties,  foreign  affairs,  general  legislation,  supreme 


218  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

jurisdiction,  currencies,  weights  and  measures,  all  these 
belong  to  the  central  power.  Let  a  canton  take  it  upon 
itself  to  pass  a  law  ignoring  the  principles  laid  down  in 
the  compact,  and  this  law  will  be  annulled ;  let  it  attempt 
to  throw  off  its  federal  obligations,  and  it  will  be  oc 
cupied  on  the  spot. 

This  is  an  entirely  new  fact  in  politics,  which  I  am  not 
surprised  that  Montesquieu  did  not  foresee;  it  did  not 
suffice  for  this  to  have  read  Thucydides,  and  to  have  stud 
ied  the  democracies  of  Greece,  the  republics  of  Italy,  or 
the  States  General  of  Holland.  Yet  there  is  as  great  a 
distance  between  the  confederation  of  the  United  States 
and  the  present  confederation  of  Switzerland,  as  between 
the  latter  and  the  rude  outline  of  an  alliance  which  serves 
as  a  basis  to  the  Germanic  body. 

We  have  a  light  and  easy  manner  of  solving  questions 
while  dispensing  with  their  study.  In  the  first  place,  the 
word  confederation  is  enough.  Next,  the  United  States 
were  born  of  rebellion,  and  cannot  pretend  to  put  down 
rebellions ;  they  sprung  from  secession,  and  secessions  are 
legitimate  on  their  soil ! 

As  to  the  last  argument,  we  will  find  few  states  in  the 
Old  or  New  World  which  would  be  authorized  to  defend 
themselves,  were  the  right  of  defence  reserved  solely  to 
countries  innocent  of  revolutions.  The  secessionists  of 
1860  have  only  to  follow  the  example  of  the  secessionists 
of  1776,  to  conquer  their  independence  step  by  step  and 
then  force  a  recognition  from  the  whole  world  ;  until  this 
time,  we  demand  in  the  name  of  justice  that  the  United 
States  be  not  interdicted  the  use  of  force  against  a  rebel 
lion,  which  is  doubtless  more  momentous  than  that  of  the 
last  century,  solely  because  it  is  in  support  of  an  odious 
cause  and  cannot  put  forward  the  shadow  of  a  grievance. 


SECESSION    A    RIGHT.  219 

The  word  confederation  remains.  "VVe  have  already 
perceived  that  it  is  iar  from  corresponding  always  to  the 
same  system,  for  modern  Switzerland  escapes  the  defini 
tion  of  Montesquieu.  What  are  we  to  think  of  the  United 
States?  Are  they  a  confederation  according  to  the  old 
formula,  or  a  confederation  according  to  the  new  formula? 
Are  they  perhaps  something  different — a  nation  in  which 
the  central  preponderance  is  still  more  strongly  implioil? 

There  have  been  two  republics  of  the  United  States ; 
that  which  preceded  1787,  and  that  which  followed  the 
great  constitutional  reform  which  then  took  place.  This 
momentous  change  appears,  in  truth,  to  be  held  for  noth 
ing,  and  considered  null  and  void.  Yes,  before  1787, 
the  United  States  were  a  simple  confederacy.  Jn  1774, 
the  thirteen  colonies  represented  in  the  Congress  at  Phil 
adelphia,  adopted  certain  "Articles  of  Association."  In 
1778,  they  made  "a  firm  league  of  friendship."  This  was 
really  a  confederation,  with  its  powerlessncss  and  anarchy. 
You  will  seek  in  vain  at  this  epoch  lor  an  American  nation. 
Each  state  acted  for  itself  alone  ;  there  were  refusals  to  go 
forward,  refusals  to  levy  taxes,  refusals  of  the  soldiers  to 
obey  their  generals.  It  was  impossible  to  execute  the  de 
cisions  of  Congress,  impossible  either  to  raise  men,  or  to 
improve  a  highway  or  canal,  or  to  pay  the  state  officials, 
or  to  discharge  the  interest  of  debts,  or  to  resist  civil  or 
military  insurrections.  The  negotiation  of  the  most  insig 
nificant  treaty  encountered  barriers  of  interests  on  its  way; 
wars  of  tariff  appeared  in  the  horizon.  Under  this  system 
of  sovereign  States,  in  which  Congress  voted  by  States, 
under  a  pure  confederation,  in  a  word  America  had  nearly 
died  shamefully,  miserably,  beneath  the  cold  hand  of  local 
selfishness. 

At  this  crisis,  illustrious  patriots  raised  their  voice. 
An  Assembly  was  convoked   in    1786    at   Philadelphia. 
10* 


220  ERRORS    CREDITED   IN    EUROPE. 

Washington,  John  Adams,  Monroe,  Madison  and  Jeffer 
son  were  present.  A  plan  of  confederation  was  fixed 
upon  which  profoundly  modiiied  the  political  organiza 
tion.  By  the  side  of  the  Senate,  to  which  each  State, 
whether  great  or  small,  was  to  send  two  members,  was 
placed  a  House  of  Representatives,  elected  in  proportion 
to  the  population  of  each  State.  And  this  important 
change  was  not  the  only  one  ;  a  President  was  appointed 
to  direct  the  general  polity ;  his  attributes  and  those  of 
Congress  were  made  extensive  ;  lastly,  under  the  name 
of  the  Federal  Supreme  Court,  a  centralized  judiciary 
power  was  commissioned  to  decide  the  differences  which 
might  arise  either  between  the  States  themselves,  or  be 
tween  a  State  and  Congress,  concerning  the  interpretation 
of  the  Constitution.  To  Congress  alone  was  henceforth 
to  belong  the  right  of  peace  and  war,  the  negotiation  of 
treaties,  and  the  regulation  of  tariffs.  It  was  also  author 
ized  to  levy  taxes  and  contract  loans. 

In  this  manner  was  accomplished  a  most  important 
revolution,  of  which  we  make  too  little  account  when  wo 
apply  to  the  United  States  the  vague  term,  confederation. 
The  federal  organization  anterior  to  1787,  that  unique 
assembly  in  which  all  the  States  had  an  equal  representa 
tion,  that  simple  committee,  charged  with  the  execution 
of  decrees  stamped  in  advance  with  impotence,  all  these 
gave  place  to  an  organic  Congress  of  the  nation,  to  a 
President,  to  a  central  power,  in  fine,  whose  attributes 
equal,  and  in  some  respects  excel  those  of  our  European 
governments. 

This  was  a  novelty  on  earth.  The  most  original  fea 
ture,  perhaps,  in  the  role  of  the  United  States  was  that  of 
having  propounded  and  resolved  the  problem  of  founding 
a  perfectly  strong,  perfectly  united,  perfectly  national 


SECESSION    A    EIGHT.  221 

power,  without  sacrificing  the  independence  of  either 
States,  commons  or  individuals.  Among  us,  centralization 
is  a  Moloch  to  which  new  victims  arc  offered  up  without 
ceasing;  our  modern  governments  have  been  hitherto 
created  only  at  the  expense  of  the  provinces,  commons, 
and  private  consciences.  The  American  solution  is  more 
liberal — it  begins  by  ensuring  the  liberty  of  the  individual, 
by  absolutely  denying  any  religious  jurisdiction  to  the 
State  ;  it  next  provides  for  the  liberty  of  the  commons, 
by  abandoning  to  them  the  complete  administration  of 
their  interests  ;  it  maintains,  in  line,  the  entire  freedom  of 
the  States,  by  refusing  to  interfere  in  any  wise  with  their 
private  institutions.  But,  at  the  same  time,  it  positively 
remits  to  the  President,  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Con 
gress,  all  that  concerns  the  general  affairs  of  the  nation. 
Never  was  religious  or  administrative  centralization  more 
invalid,  never  was  political  centralization  more  complete. 

This  distinction,  which  appears  so  simple,  and  which 
Europe  has  hitherto  so  little  understood,  has  never  been 
objected  to  in  the  United  States.  When  Jefferson,  in 
1786,  proposed  his  amendment,  designed  to  reserve  the 
local  sovereignty  of  the  States  in  the  most  express  terms, 
and  to  declare  that  what  they  had  not  delegated  to  the 
central  power,  they  preserved  themselves,  the  acceptance 
was  ready  and  cordial. 

Xo  one,  in  fact,  ever  thought  of  lowering  the  States  to 
the  rank  of  provinces  or  departments.  To  compare  an 
American  State  with  a  French  department  is  one  of  the 
greatest  political  solecisms  that  it  is  possible  to  commit. 
There  is  no  analogy  therein  of  any  kind  ;  I  see  naught 
but  difference.  But  to  conclude  from  this  difference  that 
the  United  States  do  not  exist  as  a  nation,  that  they  are 
a  confederation  according  to  the  formula  of  Montesquieu, 
is  to  be  still  more  grossly  in  error.  Self-government 


222  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

exists  in  the  United  States,  the  commons,  the  churches, 
we  will  add,  the  individuals;  but  centralization  exists 
in  Congress.  We  have  gone  beyond  the  Articles  of 
Confederation. 

Is  America  an  agglomeration  of  States,  or  is  it  a 
people  ?  This  is  a  question  of  supreme  importance,  which 
we  are  not  justified  in  deciding,  as  we  do,  with  the  negli 
gence  of  disdain.  It  is  easy,  moreover,  to  become  in 
formed  on  the  matter.  We  have  not  here  before  us  a  re 
mote  origin,  in  which  there  is  full  scope  for  hypotheses ; 
the  foundation  of  the  United  States  is  recent,  almost  con 
temporaneous  ;  it  has  been  effected  in  broad  daylight, 
and  the  commentary  is  found  by  the  side  of  the  text — a 
commentary  written  by  the  founders  themselves. 

Now,  on  the  question  which  I  am  investigating,  there 
is  not  the  slightest  disagreement  among  them.  Consult, 
for  instance,  Patrick  Henry,  one  of  the  adversaries  of  the 
Constitution  of  1787  ;  hear  what  he  will  tell  you  :  "That 
this  government  is  a  consolidated  government,  is  evident. 
The  Constitution  says,  IFe,  the  people,  instead  of  saying, 
We,  the  States." 

The  constitutional  revolution  of  1787  is  contained  en 
tire  in  these  fe\v  words.  Formerly,  they  were  the  States; 
the  Continental  Congress  was  simply  a  representation  of 
the  States  ;  it  could  act  only  on  their  recommendations ; 
its  functions,  as  has  been  said,  were  essentially  diplomatic ; 
it  was  therefore  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  negotiating 
with  the  States  for  obedience  to  its  decisions ;  it  was  un 
successful  in  treating  with  foreign  powers,  and  England, 
on  making  peace,  disdainfully  refused  to  conclude  an 
agreement  with  this  league  of  rival  sovereignties  which 
did  not  form  a  people.  Xow,  the  American  nation  gov 
erns  its  general  affairs. 


SECESSION    A    KIGIIT.  223 

Let  us,  for  a  moment,  consider  the  sphere  of  the  cen 
tral  power. 

It  acts  directly,  observe,  on  the  citizens  of  individual 
States,  having  over  them  even  the  power  of  lite  and 
death.  The  individual  States  have  neither  army  nor 
navy  ;  they  are  authorized  to  levy  troops  to  repel  inva 
sion  only  in  c;ise  of  urgency,  or  when  the  national  army 
cannot  intervene.  They  have  not  the  right,  like  the  Swiss 
cantons,  to  sign  certain  treaties  with  foreign  powers. 
They  do  not  coin  money.  There  are  national  customs, 
national  imposts,  a  national  debt,  a  national  army  and 
navy,  a  national  Supreme  Court.  The  nation  has  its  laws, 
its  ambassadors,  its  fortifications  and  garrisons  on  the  tcr- 
ritorv  of  individual  Statc-s.  The  new  territories  are 
placed  under  the  guardianship  and  authority  of  the  nation. 
Despite  the  States,  amoiMj  the  State's,  the  nation  accom- 
plijshcs  its  work,  the  political  work  which  devolves  on  it 
exclusively. 

As  to  laws  which  are  merely  local,  the  States  alone 
decide  them  ;  they  regulate  their  own  institutions,  on  con 
dition,  of  course,  of  respecting  the  principles  laid  down  by 
the  general  Constitution.  They  have  their  senators,  their 
legislators,  their  governors,  their  courts;  in  a  word,  they 
manage  important  interests  with  admirable  liberty.  Ob 
serve,  once  more,  that  the  United  States  have  invented  a 
ibrin  of  government,  hitherto  unknown  in  the  annals  of 
mankind  ;  it  is  neither  impotent,  like  ordinary  confedera 
tions,  nor  despotic,  like  our  centralization  ;  it  proclaims  at 
once  the  administrative  sovereignty  of  the  States  and 
the  political  sovereignty  of  the  State. 

The  State  and  the  States — such  is  the  great  formula 
which  America  has  brought  for  her  share  to  the  great 
political  work  of  our  race.  They  have  little  comprehen- 


224  ERRORS    CREDITED    IX    EUROPE. 

sion  of  the  originality  of  this  discovery  who  gravely 
inform  us  that  Virginia  or  Alabama  retain  their  sover 
eignty  in  presence  of  Congress,  like  Prussia  or  Wurt cm- 
berg,  in  presence  of  the  Germanic  diet,  and  who  persist 
in  seeing  nothing  in  the  Federal  Government  but  a  sim 
ple  agent  of  the  States,  whose  commission  may  be  with 
drawn  when  it  ceases  to  inspire  confidence.  The  Supreme 
Court,  that  unappealable  authority  on  the  subject  of 
constitutional  interpretations,  arrived  at  very  different 
conclusions  when  it  held  this  language  after  the  adoption 
of  the  compact  of  1787:  "These  allied  sovereignties 
have  transformed  their  league  into  a  government,  and 
their  congress  of  ambassadors  into  a  legislature." 

Such  is  the  truth.  If  the  States  subsist,  the  State  has 
taken  a  consistency  which  it  lacked  under  the  deplorable 
system  of  weakness,  disorder,  and  bankruptcy,  which 
was  that  of  the  Confederation,  properly  called.  As  things 
stand,  it  is  this  which  protects  an  individual  State  against 
another  individual  State,  which  in  certain  circumstances 
protects  the  citizens  against  their  own  individual  States, 
which  interdicts  this  individual  State  to  establish  a 
monarchical  constitution,  which  forbids  it  to  pass  laws 
violating  the  obligation  of  contracts,  bills  of  attainder, 
export  or  import  duties.  It  is  this  alone  which  accords 
naturalization  to  emigrants.  It  is  this  alone  which  re 
ceives  oaths  of  allegiance.  It  is  this  alone  which  is  recog 
nized  by  foreign  powers.  Peace,  war,  commerce,  finances, 
the  navy,  the  army,  the  mails,  the  legislative,  executive, 
and  judicial  functions — it  is  to  this  alone  that  all  these 
are  remitted.  It  possesses  Federal  property  on  the  terri 
tory  of  individual  States.  The  President  is  not  limited  to 
the  command  of  the  national  army  ;  he  also  commands 
the  militia  of  the  individual  States,  when  he  summons 
them  to  the  service  of  the  Confederation.  In  a  word, 


SECESSION    A    RIGHT.  225 

provincialism  is  foreign  to  the  organization  of  the  United 
States ;  the  United  States  are  a  nation. 

This  was  doubted  by  no  one  for  a  whole  generation. 
But,  later,  the  doctrine  of  State  sovereignty  began  to  take 
form  in  the  South.  It  was  a  gross  political  heresy  ;  but 
no  matter,  it  was  a  convenient  weapon  to  use,  if  neces 
sary,  for  the  defence  of  the  "  peculiar  institution." 

Nothing  is  more  striking  than  this  offensive  and  de 
fensive  alliance  between  slavery  and  the  doctrine  of  State 
sovereignly.  The  leaders  of  the  South,  as  we  have  seen, 
were  not  long  in  catching  a  glimpse  in  the  future  of  the 
possibility  of  a  separation.  Tliev  could  not  long  con 
ceal  that,  face  to  Dice?  with  the  gigantic  progress  of  the 
North,  in  contact  with  free  discussion  and  liberty,  the 
countries  petrified  by  slavery  could  not  forever  escape 
the  liberal  contagion.  Their  only  chance,  and  they 
exhausted  it  to  the  utmost,  was  to  impose  their  yoke  by 
force  of  threats  and  violence,  to  transform  by  main 
strength  their  minority  into  a  majority,  to  force  upon 
the  Union  an  ultra  policy,  to  win  at  any  cost  new  ter 
ritories  for  slavery.  But  they  were  not  ignorant  that 
there  would  be  perhaps  a  limit  to  this  kind  of  success, 
that  resistance  to  slavery  might  be  some  day  awakened 
in  the  North,  and  that  on  this  day  they  would  need  a 
theory  ready-made.  Americans,  as  we  have  remarked, 
Lave  derived  from  their  Anglo-Saxon  origin  an  instinctive 
veneration  for  law,  which  forbids  them  ever  to  neglect 
demonstrating  to  themselves  that  they  respect  it,  even 
while  treading  it  under  foot. 

Thence  arises  the  mother-doctrine  of  State  sovereignty, 
and  its  legitimate  offspring,  the  right  of  secession.  It  is 
easy  to  follow  them  in  their  growth,  from  the  moment 
when  Mr.  Calhoun  proclaimed  his  doctrine  of  the  right 


226  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

of  secession ;  that  is,  the  faculty  reserved  to  each  State 
to  annul  certain  acts  of  Congress ;  from  the  moment  when 
the  South,  irritated  by  the  admission  of  California  with 
out  slaves,  reserved  to  itself  in  formal  terms  the  right  of 
secession,  to  the  moment  when  Jefferson  Davis,  accom 
plishing  what  Mr.  Calhoun  had  announced,  based  the 
secession  of  the  slave  States  upon  their  sovereignty. 

That  the  South  should  have  invented  such  theories, 
may  be  conceived ;  that  Europe  should  have  admitted 
them,  it  is  more  difficult  to  comprehend.  We  must 
acknowledge,  notwithstanding,  that  we  have,  in  general, 
admitted  to  the  rank  of  axioms,  the  sovereignty  of  States 
and  their  right  of  separation. 

In  other  terms,  we  have  drawn  up,  for  the  use  of 
America,  the  theory  of  inevitable  and  contemptible  death  ; 
the  theory  of  forced  powerlessness.  We  have  gravely 
printed  in  our  journals  that  the  American  Constitution 
does  not  authorize  the  Federal  Government  to  employ 
coercive  measures. 

We  must  conclude  from  this  that  General  Jackson 
held  unconstitutional  language  when  he  threatened  to 
make  the  South  Carolinians  return  to  their  duty  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet.  The  United  States  would  possess 
this  privilege,  that  they  alone  of  all  known  governments, 
would  have  no  right  to  defend  themselves ;  rebellions 
might  take  place  among  them  with  safety  ;  amicable  dis 
memberment  (an  admirable  expression  !)  would  be  the  su 
preme  law  of  the  country. 

I  had  rather  hear  it  said,  without  oratorical  pretension  : 
"  The  American  Government  is  a  government  outside  of 
the  law."  Hns  Europe,  which  has  sought  for  the  last  year 
to  apply  to  it  a  system  which  she  would  desire  at  no  price 
for  herself — has  Europe,  which  has  thus  endeavored  to 


SECESSION   A   RIGHT.  227 

bring  it  back  to  the  state  of  shameful  anarchy,  suppressed 
in  1787,  really  measured  the  extent  of  this  principle,  which 
at  least  deserves  the  credit  of  orginality — the  principle  of 
pacific  separations?  If  she  has  not  measured  it  herself, 
she  has  placed  Americans  in  a  position  to  form  a  just  idea 
of  its  significance  ;  they  must  have  seen  for  some  time  how 
far  a  nation  falls  which  is  bound  to  accept  division  and,  in 
some  sort,  dissolution  at  the  first  summons.  It  has  been 
shown  to  them,  it  seems  to  me,  that,  the  principle  of 
separation  once  at  work,  they  need  hope  for  little  consid 
eration. 

I  like  better  this  letter  from  an  English  merchant,  set 
tled  in  Philadelphia  :  u  If  it  be  an  acknowledged  fact  that 
there  is  here  neither  State  nor  government,  and  that  a  frac 
tion  of  the  United  States  can  secede  whenever  it  chooses, 
it  is  time  to  pack  our  trunks  and  go  where  there  is  a 
State  and  government."  I  would  advise  all  the  people  of 
America  to  park  their  trtntka  at  the  same  time,  were  so 
monstrous  a  theory  admitted.  Thank  God !  it  will  not  be 
admitted  ;  the  government  at  Washington  has  entered  its 
protest,  despite  our  counsels.  This  pointed  and  necessary 
protest  will  remain  inscribed  by  the  side  of  the  preten 
sions  of  the  South  and  the  explanations  of  its  friends.  We 
will  consent  at  length,  perhaps,  to  place  America  in  the 
domain  of  the  common  law,  and  not  recommend  to  her  a 
moderation  contrary  to  nature — we,  who  would  be  so 
greatly  surprised  if,  in  the  event  of  an  Irish  insurrection, 
J\Ir.  Lincoln  should  pledge  the  Queen  not  to  oppose  the. 
right  of  separation. 

It  is  sometimes  asked  why  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  did  not  explicitly  declare  itself  against  this 
right  of  separation !  I  think  that  such  a  clause  would 
be  vainly  sought  in  ancient  and  modern  constitutions, 
in  those  of  Europe  and  those  of  America.  There  are 


22B  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN   EUROPE. 

some  things  so  evident  that  they  are  never  laid  down.  It 
is  never  laid  down  that  the  infringement  of  sworn  oaths  is 
forbidden.  Neither  is  it  laid  down  that  the  National  Gov 
ernment  is  permitted  to  employ  force  against  those  who 
attack  it  by  force.  The  authority  of  the  highest  law  would 
be  in  no  wise  increased  by  adding  thereto  :  "  We  also 
decree  that  this  law  shall  not  be  violated." 

Under  what  pretext  can  the  United  States  be  re 
proached  for  not  having  taken  a  ridiculous  precaution, 
without  precedent  in  history  ?  Those  who  wish  to  modify 
the  American  Constitution  have  a  way  provided  to  do  it ; 
they  have  only  to  obtain  a  majority  of  two-thirds  of  both 
Houses  of  Congress,  and  a  ratification  "by  three-fourths 
of  the  whole  number  of  States.  Apart  from  this  means, 
I  know  of  none  but  bullets.  But  as  bullets  constitute  force, 
right  is  no  longer  in  question. 

Let  men  cease  to  couple  two  words  which  mourn 
to  see  themselves  united ;  right  and  secession  /  the  dis 
cussion  will  be  more  honest  for  it.  So  long  as  secession 
pretends  to  be  nothing  more  than  it  is — an  act  of  rebellion 
and  violence,  an  attempt  at  revolution — we  avoid  inocu 
lating  the  social  body  with  a  principle  of  dissolution ;  as 
soon  as  it  becomes  a  right,  on  the  contrary,  dissolutior 
begins. 

The  South  already  perceives  this  itself;  at  the  begin 
ning,  in  spite  of  excited  passions,  it  sees  its  principal  State 
Virginia,  divided  into  two  hostile  portions.  If,  to  its 
misfortune,  it  should  succeed ;  if  its  confederacy  shoulc 
be  finally  established,  I  will  not  give  it  ten  years  to  be 
come  reduced  to  dust  and  ashes.  In  virtue  of  what  prin 
ciple  will  it  prevent  first  one  State  from  going  off,  and  ther 
another  ?  What  reply  will  it  make  to  the  county  wind 
wishes  to  constitute  itself  an  independent  State,  or  to  the 


SECESSION   A    RIGHT.  229 

discontented  township  which  is  no  longer  willing  to  live 
with  the  county  ? 

Our  time,  fertile  in  anarchical  theories,  had  not  hith 
erto  discovered  this  one.  Had  the  United  States  accepted 
it,  they  would  have  sunk  to  the  rank  of  the  Mexican 
States,  distracted  on  all  sides,  and  condemned  to  civil 
war  in  perpetuity. 

For  long  years,  the  adversaries  of  the  United  States  in 
Europe  have  prophesied  this  state  of  permanent  revolution 
and  anarchy ;  they  take  delight  in  believing  that  North 
America  will  be  ere  long  a  lit  peer  for  South  America. 
It  is  doubtless  to  facilitate  the  fulfilment  of  their  predic 
tions  that  they  are  attempting  to  introduce  into  the  heart 
of  the  Union  a  system  which  would  effectively  produce 
an  armed  struggle  after  every  presidential  election,  a-  se 
cession  after  the  adoption  of  every  bill. 

It  is  time  to  admit  that,  if  the  North  cannot  consent  to 
the  peaceful  withdrawal  of  the  South,  it  is  not  only,  nor 
above  all,  because  it  needs  the  South  or  needs  the  cotton 
of  the  South,  but  because  it  needs  to  lire.  To  admit  the 
right  of  secession  is  to  renounce  being  a  people ;  and  to 
renounce  being  a  people  is  to  sign  its  own  death-warrant. 

It  cannot  "  let  the  South  go,"  for  every  thing  (I  do  not 
use  the  word  by  chance)  —  every  thing  would  go  with  it. 
Every  thing  would  go  with  it,  not  only  because  each 
fragment  would  become  isolated  in  turn  :  to  day,  Califor 
nia  ;  to-morrow,  the  AVest ;  the  day  after,  New  York  or 
Pennsylvania  ;  not  only  because  war  would  become 
endemic — war  for  the  boundaries,  war  for  the  territories, 
war  with  the  fellow-citizens  of  yesterday,  war  with  friends 
and  enemies — but  because  the  right  of  secession  is  anarchy, 
and  anarchy  marks  the  end  of  nations. 

To  the  support  of  what  I  have  just  said,  it  wrould  be 


230  EKKORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

easy  to  multiply  quotations  ;  all  the  American  statesmen, 
Washington,  Jay,  Hamilton,  Marshall,  Madison,  Kent, 
Story,  Webster,  and  many  others,  have  rejected  the  doc 
trine  which  ends  in  the  right  of  secession.  Jefferson 
alone,  the  enthusiastic  founder  of  that  bad  school  of  de 
mocracy  which  had  nearly  drawn  on  the  United  States  to 
their  ruin,  and  the  decline  of  which  has  been  proclaimed 
by  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln — Jefferson  alone  used  now 
and  then  a  different  language.  In  1803,  he  wrote  on  the 
occasion  of  the  acquisition  of  Louisiana:  "  If  these  people 
should  come  to  find  it  greatly  to  their  interest  to  separate 
from  us,  if  their  happiness  should  so  far  depend  on  it  as 
to  resolve  them  to  brave  the  inconveniences  of  such  a 
crisis,  why  should  the  Atlantic  States  dread  this  event  ? 
Why  should  we,  in  particular,  their  present  inhabitants, 
concern  ourselves  with  such  a  question  ?  ....  We  think 
that  their  union  is  necessary  to  their  happiness,  and  desire 
that  it  shall  be  maintained ;  events  may  determine  other 
wise.  ..." 

We  recognize  in  this  letter,  on  one  side,  the  diplomatic 
adroitness  of  the  leader  of  the  State  seeking  to  anticipate 
objections  and  facilitate  a  vast  increase  of  territory;  and, 
on  the  other,  the  political  tendency  of  the  leader  of  a 
party,  instinctively  preparing  for  the  South  and  the  ultra 
democracy  the  means  of  subversive  action  which  they 
would  yet  need. 

Washington  expresses  himself  differently.  Who  does 
not  know  his  celebrated  Farewell  Address  ? — "  Be,  before 
all,  children  of  the  same  confederation,  American  citizens 
rather  than  the  citizens  of  such  or  such  a  State.  Let  the 
Federal  Constitution  be  your  ark  of  safety.  .  .  .  Remem 
ber  that  it  cannot  subsist  without  authority  strong  enough 
to  protect  it  against  factions." 

Moreover,  he  elaborates  this  idea,  which  was  constant- 


SECESSION    A    11IGHT.  231 

ly  present  to  his  miiul :  "The  unity  of  government  is  a 
main  pillar  in  the  edifice  of  your  real  independence.  .  .  . 
As  this  is  the  point  in  your  political  fortress  against  which 
the  batteries  of  internal  and  external  enemies  will  be  most 
constantly  and  actively  directed,  it  is  of  infinite  moment 
that  you  should  properly  estimate  the  immense  value  of 
your  national  Union  to  your  collective  and  individual 
happiness ;  that  you  should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual,  and 
immovable  attachment  to  it,  accustoming  yourselves  to 
think  and  speak  of  it  as  the  palladium  of  your  political 
safety  and  prosperity  ;  watching  for  its  preservation  with 
jealous  anxiety;  discountenancing  whatever  may  suggest 
even  a  suspicion  that  it  can  be  in  any  event  abandoned; 
and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of  every 
attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the 
rest.  .  .  ." 

The  Message  of  1833,  of  President  Jackson,  contains 
the  following  words:  "The  right  of  the  inhabitants  of  a 
State,  at  their  own  good  pleasure  and  without  the  consent 
of  the  other  States,  to  throw  off  their  most  solemn  obli 
gations  and  imperil  the  liberties  and  happiness  of  the  mil 
lions  of  men  who  compose  the  Union,  cannot  be  recog 
nized.  To  say  that  a  State  can  separate  at  will  from 
the  Union,  is  to  say  that  the  United  States  are  not  a 
nation." 

The  illustrious  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  held  no  less 
decided  language ;  here  are  a  few  sentences  from  a  speech 
delivered  by  him  in  the  Senate  in  1850:  "If  Kentucky 
were  to-morrow  to  unfurl  the  banner  of  resistance,  I 
would  not  fight  under  her  flag.  The  submission  which  I 
owe  the  Union  is  absolute ;  that  which  I  owe  my  native 
State  is  only  relative." 

To  all  these  witnesses  which  have  arisen  at  the  different 
epochs  of  the  crises,  but  a  single  man  of  importance  can  be 


232  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN   EUROPE. 

opposed — the  theorist  of  secession,  Mr.  Calhoun.  Behold 
with  what  vigor  he  is  attacked  !  Here  are  a  few  words 
from  Mr.  Webster,  respecting  his  doctrines :  "  I  maintain, 
1st,  that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  not  a 
league,  a  confederation,  or  a  contract  between  the  people 
of  different  States  acting  in  their  sovereign  character  ;  but 
a  government  properly  called,  based  on  the  adoption  of 
the  people,  and  creating  direct  relations  between  itself 
and  individuals  ;  2d,  that  no  State  has  the  power  to  dis 
solve  these  relations,  that  nothing  can  break  them  except 
a  revolution;  that,  consequently, there  can  be  no  separation 
without  revolution.  .  .  ."  The  apologists  of  the  South 
have  attempted  to  lengthen  the  too  short  list  of  the  par 
tisans  of  secession  by  inserting  therein  the  respected  name 
of  Madison,  under  the  pretext  that  this  statesman  took 
the  responsibility  in  Virginia  of  the  resolutions  of  1798 ; 
but  without  entering  into  the  history  of  this  incident,  it 
will  suffice  to  recall  the  fact  that,  when  interrogated  in 
1830,  Mr.  Madison  made  the  most  solemn  and  explicit 
declarations  to  the  contrary — declarations  which  he  never 
ceased  henceforth  to  reaffirm.  The  resolutions  of  which 
he  was  the  author  were  designed,  he  said,  to  amend  the 
Constitution  by  addressing  themselves  to  the  American 
nation,  and  by  no  means  to  individual  States.  Xo  one  has 
expressed  himself  more  openly  than  he  on  the  score  of 
the  right  of  secession. 

I  am  unwilling  to  quit  this  great  subject  without  re 
calling  the  fact  that  the  question  is  not  only  American — 
it  is  hitman^  pardon  me  the  expression.  We  too  are  con 
cerned  in  it ;  the  old  contest  between  right  and  anarchy 
has  just  taken  a  form  appropriate  to  the  events  of  the  day. 
Under  the  vague  labels  of  consenting  governments,  pop 
ular  sovereignty,  and  the  principle  of  nationalities,  all 


SECESSION    A    RIGHT.  233 

sorts  of  doctrines  glide  in ;  we  shall  do  well  to  pay  close 
attention  to  them — we  liberals,  who  are  unwilling  to  be 
come  revolutionists. 

Let  us  remember  that  the  triumph  of  injustice  is  an 
unhealthy  spectacle.  The  seed  lulls  to  the  ground  and 
disappears,  and  we  think  no  more  of  it ;  but  the  day  will 
come  when  it  will  bring  forth  fruit. 

Thus  it  is  with  violence  done  to  right.  The  human 
soul  receives  the  germ  of  anarchy,  and  becomes  accus 
tomed  to  the  evil.  That  definitive  success,  indeed,  should 
win  itself  acceptance,  is  well;  under  pain  of  having  re 
course  to  intervention  and  the  holy  alliance,  internal  rev 
olutions  must  prevail ;  but  that  revolutions  should  be 
respectfully  greeted  through  principle,  and  in  advance, 
terrifies  and  saddens  me. 

To  hear  some  men,  there  are  no  longer  rebels  here 
below;  on  the  sole  condition  of  being  somewhat  numer 
ous,  whatever  may  be  their  cause,  they  always  deserve 
another  name.  Thus,  right  becomes  absolutely  effaced 
before  force.  > 

There  would  above  all  be  no  longer  any  rights  for  re 
publican  governments.  Could  there  be  a  rebellion 
against  a  republic  ?  Would  a  republic  be  authorized  in 
maintaining  its  own  existence  ?  "Would  it  not  be  acting 
against  its  principle  in  using  constraint  ?  Should  not  the 
will  of  the  people  prevail? 

Everyone  will  doubtless  comprehend,  without  need  of 
my  explanation,  the  full  scope  of  s\ich  a  maxim.  All  free 
governments  would  be  more  or  less  accused  and  convicted 
of  irremediable  weakness,  of  powerlessness  to  retain  se- 
ccdcrs  and  to  punish  rebels.  To  yield  and  to  yield  again 
in  virtue  of  a  constitutional  vice — such  would  be  their 
destiny  here  below.  Instead  of  yielding  to  majorities, 
and  submitting  to  laws  which  they  had  combated,  and  acts 


234  ERRORS    CREDITED    IX    EUROPE. 

which  displeased  them,  minorities  would  have  two  re 
sources  always  ready— the  right  of  revolution  and  the 
right  of  secession. 

Such  a  theory  would  leave  nothing  further  to  be  done  : 
the  code  of  anarchy  would  be  complete. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  SOUTH,  THOUGH  COXQUEKED,  WILL  XEYER  BE  BEOUGHT 
BACK  INTO  THE  UXION. 

WE  will  lay  theories  aside  ;  the  partisans  of  the  South 
are  themselves  beginning  to  renounce  them.  They  arc 
much  less  anxious  at  present  to  sustain  secession  as  a 
ri<Tht  than  to  demonstrate  secession  as  a  i'aet.  Think  of  it  as 

O 

you  will  in  the  point  of  view  of  principles  and  philosophic 
speculation,  it  is  done,  awl  it  will  stand  ;  to  reestablish 
the  Union  is  henceforth  impossible;  the  Xorth,  in  con 
tinuing  the  struggle,  is  yielding  to  the  demoniac  sugges 
tions  of  wounded  pride  ;  it  is  ruining  itself  without  a 
justifiable  end  ;  it  is  committing  suicide  without  a  real 
chance  of  success. 

Such  is  the  opinion  which  the  friends  of  the  South  arc 
laboring  to  propagate  in  Europe,  and  in  which  they  suc 
ceed  but  too  well.  I  meet  men  everywhere  who  ask  in 
dismay:  "  How  will  this  end?"  Without  any  hostility 
with  respect  to  the  United  States,  they  nevertheless 
accept  with  incredible  facility  the  idea  of  Southern  recog 
nition.  Is  not  this  a  necessity  ?  What  can  we  do  in 
opposition  to  a  deed  accomplished  ?  Do  you  wish  the 
North  to  set  about  subjugating  and  occupying  the  cotton 
11 


236  ERRORS   CREDITED   IN   EUROPE. 

States  ?  Do  you  wish  to  make  of  them  a  Poland  or  a 
Venice  ? 

Xo,  a  thousand  times  no.  But,  as  I  have  said,  my 
knowledge  of  the  subject  is  less  extensive  than  that  of 
those  who  speak  in  this  wise.  They  settle  questions 
which  to  me  are  still  obscure.  They  foresee,  with  a  cer 
tainty  which  astonishes  me,  the  future  attitude  of  the 
Southern  States.  As  to  me,  I  wait ;  it  seems  to  me  a 
surer  method  to  cling  to  what  is  just  than  to  seek  for 
what  is  probable.  Political  clear-sightedness  is  subject 
to  error;  integrity  never  goes  astray.  What  do  we  risk 
in  pursuing  the  right  cause  ?  When  it  shall  have  failed, 
it  will  be  quite  time  to  turn  the  back  on  it.  Here,  on  the 
same  side — a  rare  fact ! — behold  positive  right  and  natural 
right,  legality  and  humanity — why  are  we  in  such  haste 
to  declare  that  their  triumph  is  impossible,  and  that  the 
only  rebellion  that  ever  dared  write  the  word  "  slavery  " 
on  its  banner,  is  certain  to  attain  its  end  ?  Instead  of 
adapting  our  opinions  to  suit  chances,  would  it  not  be 
better  to  maintain  our  opinions  in  s-pite  of  chances  ?  It 
is  so  pleasant  to  live  under  the  shelter  of  principles  !  Our 
course  will  become  so  simple  when  we  have  no  longer 
to  ask  ourselves  with  anguish  which  must  succeed — when 
the  only  question  put  is,  "  Which  is  right  ?  " 

I  have  followed  this  rule  from  the  beginning  of  the 
American  conflict,  and  I  have  found  it  right.  More  than 
once  have  I  regretted  that  Europe  had  not  done  the  same, 
preserving  and  expressing  her  sympathies,  calling  that 
which  is  right,  right,  and  that  which  is  iniquitous,  iniqui 
tous.  What  will  happen  now  that  our  too  able  policy 
has  swelled  the  proportions  of  the  insurrection  ?  I  know 
not.  It  is  not  my  design,  therefore,  to  prove  here  that 
the  reestablishmeiit  of  the  Union  will  take  place ;  it  is 
enough  for  me  to  prove  that  it  is  not  impossible. 


THE    SOUTII    WILL    NEVER    BE    RECLAIMED.  237 

"Without  going  very  far  back  in  history,  or  quitting 
our  o\vn  country,  we  see  that  many  impossibilities  have 
been  done.  When  the  iirsl  coalitions  were  formed,  pru 
dent  men  doubtless  ranked  among  impossibilities  a  vic 
tory  of  divided  and  exhausted  France  over  all  Europe 
united  against  her.  When  the  revolutionary  anarchy 
was  at  its  height,  it  was  declared  with  some  show  of  rea 
son  that  a  regular  administration,  and  peaceable  relations 
between  the  different  classes,  would  never  be  seen  in. 
France.  The  hatreds  whiclf  separated  them  seemed  in 
deed  more  difficult  to  conquer  than  are  those  of  the  North 
and  South. 

Let  us  study,  then,  impartially,  the  chances  of  reestab 
lishing  the  Union;  if  the  difficulties  are  great,  justice 
and  liberty  are  accustomed  to  overcome  difficulties  ;  the 
force  that  dwells  in  them  is  never  taken  sufficiently  into 
account.  They  level  mountains  of  prejudice,  they  blot 
out  animosities,  they  harmonize  interests,  their  soothing 
resources  are  miraculous. 

There  is,  I  admit,  a  form  of  union  which  has  become 
well-nigh  iMpossible  ;  I  mean  the  ancient  form.  And  this  is 
great  progress.  Thank  God !  there  are  no  longer  means 
of  reestablishing  what  then  existed — that  complicated 
and  unnatural  condition,  that  guarantee  of  slavery  by  free 
countries,  that  incessant  uneasiness  of  the  public  con 
science,  that  unstable  equilibrium  maintained  by  force  of 
acts  of  cowardice  and  compromises,  that  debased  policy  in 
which  America  was  straitened  for  want  of  room,  in  which 
she  was  stilled  for  lack  of  air,  in  which  she  would  have  per 
ished,  had  she  not,  by  a  bold  effort,  freed  herself  in  time. 

This,  the  founders  of  the  United  States  might  have 
established  in  the  last  century;  struggling  with  a  disas 
trous  war,  with  anarchy,  with  bankruptcy,  seeking  in 


238  ERKOliS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

Tain  around  them  for  forces  proportioned  to  their  design, 
they  thought  it  their  duty  to  alienate  110  one,  and  to  sub 
mit  to  the  conditions  of  the  slaveholders  rather  than  lay 
down  their  arms  before  Englishmen.  But  to-day,  after 
the  experiences  of  the  last  administrations  and  the  present 
rebellion,  to  restore  what  has  just  crumbled  away,  in  fine, 
would  be  a  criminal  folly,  the  spectacle  of  which,  it  is  my 
firm  conviction,  will  be  spared  us. 

Whatever  may  be  the  temptations  of  the  future — and 
they  may  be  great  at  some  moments — the  time  for  com 
promises  is  assuredly  past ;  supposing,  which  I  by  no 
means  admit,  that  there  should  ever  be  found  a  govern 
ment  at  Washington  to  accept  them,  there  would  be  no 
longer  found  a  people  in  the  United  States  to  regard  them ; 
useless  paper  rags,  they  would  fall  into  the  mire,  and  no 
one  would  think  in  future  of  stooping  to  pick  them  up. 

Lord  Russell  said  at  the  Newcastle  dinner:  "If  the 
South  were  to  return  voluntarily  to  the  Union,  the  quar 
rel  would  be  renewed,  for  slavery  would  remain.'*  I  can 
not  admit  the  hypothesis ;  I  much  rather  believe  that  in 
case  overtures  of  peace  should  be  made  and  received,  they 
would  be  based  on  progressive  emancipation,  arid  the 
stipulation  of  an  indemnity  in  favor  of  the  masters.  De 
spite  the  support  which  a  portion  of  the  Democrats  and 
politicians  would  doubtless  give  to  plans  of  negotiation,  it 
is  indubitable  that  the  reestablishment  of  the  Union  will 
not  take  place  by  this  means. 

If  the  reestablishment  of  the  Union  take  place,  it  will 
be  simply  because,  the  war  once  ended  and  the  South 
conquered,  there  will  be  found  more  Union  sentiment  and 
interests  in  the  South  than  is  generally  supposed.  There 
will  be  union  because  there  is  unity. 

During  the  war,   hatreds  become  exaggerated   and 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NEVER    BE    RECLAIMED.  239 

passions  excited ;  it  seems  then  ns  though  the  Mood  spilt 
•would  never  permit  reconciliation,  as  though  there  were 
really  two  peoples  contending,  two  peoples  strangers  to 
each  other,  who  have  had  and  can  have  nothing  in  com 
mon.  This  is  not  only  the  language  of  the  leaders,  it  is  the 
truth  of  the  moment.  It  is  certain,  and  the  government 
at  Washington  ought  not  to  conceal  it,  that  the  separation 
is  more  real  to-day  than  at  the  hour  of  the  disruption;  the 
separation  is  consolidated — I  iind  no  other  term — by  the 
habit  of  living  apart  and  hostile;  the  difficulties  of  re 
establishing  the  Union  have  gone  on  increasing.  It  was 
justifiable  to  maintain  in  the  beginning  that  the  rising 
of  the  South  was  nothing  but  a  rebellion,  fomented  by  the 
ambition  of  a  handful  of  agitators  ;  this  is  no  longer  true 
to-day.  The  South,  a  part  of  the  South,  at  least,  has 
come  by  degrees  to  desire  what  it,  perhaps,  forced  upon 
itself  at  first  ;  the  South  desires  the  separation — it  desires 
it  with  fierce  and  passionate  energy. 

I  do  not  seek,  it  will  be  seen,  to  disguise  perils  and 
favor  illusions.  The  reestablishment  of  the  Union  is  dif 
ficult  ;  it  remains  to  be  known  whether  it  is  impossible. 
Upon  this  point,  I  still  have  doubts,  and  for  these  reasons : 

If  we  set  aside  the  transient  excitement  which  be 
longs  to  the  struggle,  and  which  will  give  place  after  the 
struggle  to  sentiments  of  a  different  nature,  we  will  see 
that  all  of  the  Southern  States  contain  a  Union  party. 
What  is  its  importance  ?  Those  more  able  than  I  will 
tell  you;  for  my  part,  I  do  not  feel  that  I  have  the  right 
to  be  so  positive.  I  confess  my  ignorance,  "but  at  the 
same  time  I  insist  on  recalling  the  manner  in  which  the 
disruption  was  proclaimed.  Nothing  could  less  resemble 
an  unanimous  conviction,  a  popular  impulse.  We  do  not 
need,  in  studying  this  miserable  spectacle  of  a  rebellion 
in  behalf  of  slavery,  to  have  present  to  our  minds  the 


240  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

calm  resolve  displayed  by  the  founders  of  the  United 
States. 

Last  year,  the  violent  course  adopted  by  South  Caro 
lina  at  first  encountered  naught  but  blame.  Numerous 
Southern  journals  declared  themselves  opposed  to  this 
excessive  precipitation.  I  read  in  an  influential  sheet  of 
Georgia,  The  Augusta  Chronicle  and  Sentinel :  "We  are 
quite  sure  that  every  movement  designed  for  secession 
and  the  formation  of  a  new  government  proceeds,  so  far 
at  least  as  Georgia  is  concerned,  only  from  the  quasi-con- 
sent  of  its  people.  It  is  time  that  this  usurpation  of 
power  had  an  end,  and  that  the  people  were  consulted. 
.  .  .  Before  the  Convention  takes  it  upon  itself  to  ratify 
a  permanent  constitution,  let  it  submit  it  to  the  vote  of 
the  people.  .  .  ." 

The  vote  of  the  people  is  what  the  ringleaders  of  this 
insurrection,  self-styled  popular ,  avoided  with  significant 
care.  Everywhere,  despite  the  principles  of  democracy, 
the  ratification  by  the  people  was  set  aside.  An  able  and 
unscrupulous  minority  had  seized  the  reins ;  the  majority 
submitted  to  the  yoke  ;  nearly  all  the  men  who  would 
have  been  naturally  called  by  their  social  position  or 
character  to  exercise  an  important  influence,  remained  in 
the  shade  :  we  seek  in  vain  for  their  names  at  the  foot  of 
the  Charleston  proclamations. 

The  people  were  still  more  hesitating.  It  will  be  re 
membered  that  but  just  before,  in  most  of  the  States, 
they  had  rejected,  with  a  nobleness  of  feeling  of  which  it 
is  just  to  take  note,  the  infamous  laws  passed  by  the  legis 
latures  for  reducing  to  slavery  the  free  blacks  who  should 
not  immediately  quit  the  South.  It  is  a  striking  fact  that 
the  governors  were  everywhere  more  violent  than  the 
legislatures,  and  the  legislatures  everywhere,  in  turn,  more 
violent  than  the  people.  When  the  Alabama  Convention 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NEVER    BE    11ECLAIMED.  241 

was  elected,  the  number  of  voters  was  minimum,  and  out 
of  this  small  number,  two-fifths  supported  the  candidates 
opposed  to  secession;  had  the  ordinance  of  secession  been 
submitted  to  the  people,  it  would  have  been  rejected.  In 
Virginia  and  in  Texas,  the  opposition  was  still  stronger. 

Observe  that  the  cities  played  a  great  part  in  this 
movement  ;  the  country,  much  more  Union  in  feeling, 
was  set  aside.  Let  not  too  much,  therefore,  be  said  about 
the  ttat'umal  insurrection  of  the  South  !  It  certainly 
had  not  this  character  in  the  beginning;  if  it  has  assumed 
it  since,  under  the  influence  of  the  passions  excited  by  the 
struggle,  it  may  easily  lose  it  again  under  the  influence  of 
opposite  sentiments.  The  discontent  caused  by  ruin  and 
reverse's,  the  irritation  against  a  government  which  has 
taken  it  upon  itself  to  act  without  consulting  the  people, 
and  lias  precipitated  events  and  accumulated  deceptions 
— all  this  will  suffice  to  subdue  a  factitious  ill-feeling,  and 
to  restore  life  and  speech  to  veritable  majorities. 

I  by  no  means  affirm  that  this  will  be  so  ;  it  will  be  at 
least  granted  me  that  it  has  some  chance.  Who  will  dare 
affirm,  moreover,  that  the  struggle  of  classes  will  not 
then  intervene  to  complicate  the  position  of  the  South, 
and  that  it  will  not  give  strength  to  the  partisans  of  the 
Union  ?  According  to  the  last  census,  there  are  not 
found  in  America  more  than  four  hundred  thousand  slave 
holders,  large  and  small ;  the  number  of  large  slave 
holders  is  under  a  hundred  thousand.  There  exists,  there 
fore,  a  considerable  number  of  whites  who  are  strangers 
to  the  interests  of  slavery. 

We  have  a  right,  I  think,  to  doubt  the  unanimity  of 
the  South.  Without  even  taking  into  account,  which  is 
wrong,  the  four  millions  of  blacks  who  should  have,  and 
some  day  will  have  a  voice  in  the  matter,  we  are  justified 
in  believing  that,  should  unexpected  defeat  once  occur, 


242  ERRORS    CREDITED    IX   EUROPE. 

should  its  illusions  be  rent  asunder,  should  the  rude 
hand  of  reverses  replace  each  by  reality,  there  will  not 
be  found  in  the  Gulf  States  a  population  animated  by  the 
same  desire,  ruled  by  the  same  passion,  and  pursuing  the 
same  end. 

It  will,  perhaps,  be  objected  that  hypotheses  are  not 
facts.  I  grant  it ;  but  hypotheses  are  not  alone  in  ques 
tion  ;  certain  facts  have  already  appeared.  Wherever 
the  national  army  has  regained  its  footing,  sentiments  in 
favor  of  the  Union  have  been  manifested  on  the  spot. 
Scarcely  had  the  fleet  touched  at  Hatteras,  when  numer 
ous  delegates  from  the  neighboring  counties  assembled 
there  in  convention,  and  disavowed,  in  incredibly  forcible 
terms,  the  secession  sentiments  attributed  to  North  Caro 
lina.  Scarcely  had  General  Dix  set  foot  in  Eastern  Vir 
ginia,  when  Accomac  and  Northampton  counties  enthu 
siastically  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  the  Union. 
Scarcely  had  the  Federal  power  become  somewhat  strength 
ened  in  Missouri,  when  numerous  Unionists  from  Arkansas 
took  refuge  there.  Scarcely  had  the  success  of  the  North 
ern  troops  permitted  Western  Virginia  to  express  her 
true  thought,  when  she  constituted  herself  apart,  and 
joined  the  United  States. 

An  analogous  movement  has  been  called  forth  in 
Eastern  Tennessee ;  the  return  to  the  Union  numbers 
partisans  there  wrho  declare  themselves  with  daily  increas 
ing  boldness.  Wherever  it  is  possible  to  declare  one's  self  a 
Unionist  without  danger  of  the  gallows,  I  do  not  see  men 
lacking  to  do  it.  Even  in  Alabama,  even  in  Georgia, 
even  in  South  Carolina,  even  in  Richmond,  under  the  eyes 
of  the  insurrectional  government,  unequivocal  symptoms 
betray  the  presence  of  a  party  in  favor  of  the  Union. 
The  Border  States  are  interesting  subjects  of  study  in 
this  respect.  We  know  how  little  hesitation  was  shown 


THE    SOUTH    "WILL    NEVER    HE    RECLAIMED.  243 

by  Kentucky  in  rejecting  the  idea  of  a  separation.  As  to 
Maryland,  if  you  consult  her  outside  the  streets  of  Balti 
more,  you  will  find  in  her  a  strong  general  tendency  in 
favor  of  the  Union  ;  nowhere  have  so  decisive  majorities 
been  seen  as  those  which  declared  themselves  this  year  in 
Maryland  for  the  Union  candidates. 

I  am  not  ignorant  of  the  objection  that  maybe  raised, 
that  majorities  called  forth  under  the  pressure  of  an  army 
of  occupation  are  always  suspicious.  Are  we  forbidden, 
however,  to  draw  any  inferences  from  these  facts?  Arc 
we  not  authorized  to  suppo.su  that  the  material  defeat  of 
the  secessionists  will  involve  a  moral  defeat,  that  faith  in 
their  cause  will  then  die  out,  that  the  former  dream  of  an 
independent  South,  prospering  through  the  conquests  of 
slavery,  will  at  length  fall  in  ruins  ?  Our  dreams  never 
iall  alone,  they  draw  down  with  them  many  convictions, 
many  passions  which  we  deemed  immortal. 

Those  who  extol  the  impulse  of  the  South,  and  wish 
to  make  us  believe  in  its  unanimity,  should  explain  to  us 
the  indifference  of  which  proof  was  given  when  the  rati 
fication  of  the  new  Constitution  was  in  question.  In 
Georgia,  for  instance,  the  journals  of  the  country  pointed 
out  several  counties  in  which  scarcely  a  hundred  voters 
presented  themselves  at  the  polls,  and  others,  where  the 
votes  in  favor  of  secession  scarcely  prevailed  over  those 

linst  it. 

If  the  North  succeed,  and  it  will  succeed,  perhaps,  in 
suppressing  the"  factitious  and  transient  state  of  exaltation 
in  which  the  South  is  now  found,  a  much  more  real  attach 
ment  for  the  common  country  will  be  discovered  at  the 
bottom  than  men  are  now  disposed  to  admit.  For  nearly 
a  century,  the  sum  told,  they  have  lived  together,  under 
the  same  constitution,  with  the  same  destinies,  by  no 
means  devoid  of  reatness. 


244  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

Such  a  history  is  a  bond.  More  than  one  glorious 
memory,  more  than  one  illustrious  name,  causes  the  hearts 
of  men  to  beat  alike  in  the  North  and  South.  Far  from 
discovering  there  two  peoples  naturally  hostile,  I  cannot 
help  seeing  a  single  people,  and  a  people  whose  unity 
seems  founded  on  indestructible  bases.  Not  only  is  there 
unity  of  language,  unity  of  origin,  unity  of  race,  and  unity 
of  religion,  but  it  would  be  difficult  to  find,  apart  from 
slavery,  any  serious  cause  of  antagonism.  The  solidarity 
of  interests  is  evident — there  is  no  rivalry,  the  agricultu 
ral  South  completes  the  manufacturing  North,  the  rich 
cultures  of  the  South  have  need  to  prosper  of  the  capital 
of  the  North,  the  entrepots  of  the  North,  the  vast  com 
merce  of  the  North. 

It  is  puerile  to  raise  up  a  few  differences  of  character 
and  manners,  and  transform  them  into  causes  of  disrup 
tion.  There  is  no  great  people  which  does  not  comprise 
such  contrasts  within  itself;  they  do  not  endanger  unity, 
they  strengthen  it,  on  the  contrary,  by  introducing  there 
in  the  element  of  diversity.  Then  the  people  of  the 
North  and  South,  with  their  emigrating  habits,  are  much 
more  closely  intermingled  than  is  confessed.  How  many 
families  number  members  at  the  present  time  in  both  con 
tending  sections  ? 

The  geographical  unity  will  strike  every  one  who  looks 
at  a  map  of  America.  Seek  natural  limits,  possible  limits 
— you  will  not  iind  them.  A  great  arterial  communica 
tion,  the  Mississippi,  passes  through  the  central  valley 
where  beats  the  heart  of  the  people ;  numerous  branches, 
canals,  and  railroads,  establish  a  momentary  contact  be 
tween  the  most  distant  portions  of  the  territory. 

The  necessities  of  defence  are  to  America  a  supreme 
law  of  unity.  If  the  South,  which  talks  about  independ 
ence,  wishes  to  remain  independent,  I  advise  it  not  to  set 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NEVER    BE    RECLAIMED.  245 

itself  apart ;  it  will  soon  be  obliged  to  place  itself,  in  con 
sequence,  under  the  protection  of  some  European  power. 
As  to  the  North,  once  separated  from  the  States  which 
make  it  a  whole,  it  is  in  danger  of  being  like  a  dismantled 
fortress,  which  may  be  entered  henceforth  by  the  breach. 

Nothing  less  than  the  blind  passions  of  slavery  could 
close  one's  eyes  to  truths  like  these.  Who  will  dare  say 
that  these  eyes  will  not  be  opened  ?  If  the  leaders  at 
Richmond  be  overthrown,  will  not  the  day  come  when 
reasonable  and  patriotic  Southern  men  (and  these  are  not 
lacking)  will  perceive  in  what  sort  of  a  path  they  have 
been  forced?  Sec-ing  on  one  side  that  the  golden  dream 
of  Southern  greatness  is  but  a  dream,  recognizing  on  the 
other  that  the  Yankees  are  not  so  ferocious,  so  thirsty  for 
oppression  and  vengeance  as  had  been  said,  feeling  both 
the  final  ruin  of  their  country  and  the  greater  or  lesser 
domination  of  Europe  approaching  with  rapid  strides,  will 
they  not  become  reconciled  to  those  who  will  restore  to 
them  greatness,  independence,  and  prosperity? 

Two  sentiments  sub.-ist  in  the  South — the  American 
sentiment  and  the  republican  sentiment.  Its  monarchical 
tendencies  exist  only  in  the  imaginations  of  our  newspaper 
correspondents.  As  to  the  affection  for  Europe,  see  with 
what  painful  earnestness  the  South  and  the  North,  united 
at  least  in  this,  lately  witnessed  the  progress  of  the  plans 
of  Spain,  first  in  St.  Domingo  and  then  on  the  very  conti 
nent  of  the  New  World?  The  shudder  which  runs 
through  America  to-day  from  one  end  to  the  other,  re 
veals  its  unity  to  itself. 

This  unity  appears  to  me  so  deeply  seated  that  I  per 
sist  in  believing  in  it  for  the  future,  even  though  it  should 
be  necessary  to  renounce  it  for  the  present.  I  can  scarcely 
admit  that  the  patriotism  of  Southern  men  will  always  con 
sent  to  betray  and  deliver  up  America.  Weary  of  the 


246  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

yoke  of  wretchedness  and  violence  which  is  now  weighing 
upon  them,  will  they  never  turn  their  eyes  toward  those 
free  institutions  which  have  given  them  so  many  years  of 
prosperity  and  greatness  ?  When  they  know,  beyond  the 
possibility  of  doubt,  that,  in  destroying  the  United  States, 
they  have  not  done  the  least  thing  toward  founding  the 
glorious  Southern  empire,  that  their  slavery  has  none  the 
less  received  its  death-blow,  that  a  permanent  war  is  rav 
aging  their  frontiers,  that  a  foreign  power  is  entering  and 
ruling  among  them,  that  their  ruin  is  becoming  definitive, 
that  their  downfall  is  about  to  be  accomplished  without 
remedy,  will  not  an  irresistible  reaction  take  place  ? 

Either  the  destinies  of  America  will  suffer  shipwreck, 
or  the  union  of  the  South  and  the  North  will  be  recon 
structed  ;  sooner  or  later,  more  or  Ic^s  completely,  this 
reconstruction  will  arrive.  Great  nations  are  not  formed 
by  chance,  nor  is  their  destruction  so  easy,  thank  God!  as 
is  imagined  by  cabinet  politicians.  Artificial  unions  may 
be  broken,  two  countries  brought  together  despite  them 
selves — a  Belgium  and  a  Holland — may  be  separated  ;  but 
under  the  name,  United  States,  I  discover  a  real,  vital, 
natural  fact,  which  has  a  great  chance  of  becoming  rees 
tablished  sooner  or  later,  and  the  final  ruin  of  which, 
should  it  take  place,  would  make  itself  long  felt  on 
earth. 

There  exist,  it  seems  to  me,  three  great  means  of  re 
establishing  it  speedily — negotiation,  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  and  political  liberty. 

I  use  the  word  negotiation  for  the  sake  of  brevity, 
although  the  dignity  of  the  United  States  will  not  permit 
them  to  treat  officially  with  rebels.  But,  outside  official 
action,  overtures  may  be  made.  It  is  not  absolutely  im 
possible  that  the  war,  instead  of  terminating  by  the  victory 
of  one  and  the  defeat  of  the  other,  may  end  by  an  ar- 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NEVER    BE    RECLAIMED  247 

rangcment.  Suppose  that  the  South,  discontented  with 
its  present  government,  alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the 
North,  ceasing  to  count  on  the  support  of  Europe,  know- 
in  cr,  moreover,  that  this  support  would  by  no  means  con 
solidate  the  "peculiar  institution,"  remits  the  power  to 
more  moderate  and  less  compromised  hands.  After  the 
fall  of  the  Ivichinond  cabinet  and  the  influences  which 
have  hitherto  prevailed  in  the  South,  it  is  conceivable 
that,  under  some  form  or  other,  proposals  of  peace  may 
be  communicated  to  Washington. 

We  have  the  right  to  look  them  in  the  face  to-day 
without  disquietude.  Doubtless  there  arc  still  those  who, 
if  it  were  said,  "Reestablish  the  action  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  and  pass  anew  the  Missouri  Compromise,  ac 
cording  to  slavery  all  the  territory  bclmv  !W°  flOf,  and 
you  will  obtain  the  restoration  of  the  Union,"  would  ac 
cept  the  offer  witli  enthusiasm.  I  have  read  writings 
published  in  the  Xorth  since  the  rebellion,  in  which  the 
moral  pressure  of  citizens  who  give  refuge  to  fugitive 
slaves  was  denounced  almost  with  anger.  Nevethcrthe- 
less,  we  are  advancing,  and  provided  the  war  lasts  longer 
than  men  in  haste  imagine,  it  will  be  at  length  universally 
recognized,  even  in  the  bosom  of  the  Border  States,  even 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Democratic  party,  that,  to  reestablish 
the  Union  and  maintain  slavery,  is  not  to  reestablish  the 
Union  ;  that  to  end  the  war  and  leave  the  great  enemy 
standing,  is  not  to  end  the  war. 

This  is  the  opinion  which  is  gaining  ground,  and  which 
it  will  be  difficult  to  brave.  If  peace  become  reestablished 
before  the  annihilation  of  the  Southern  armies,  the  ar 
rangement  will  probably  rest  on  this  double  basis  ;  the 
complete  reestablishment  of  the  Union,  and  the  progres 
sive  abolition  of  slavery.  Why  should  not  the  United 
States,  in  this  case,  ofler  to  indemnify  the  slaveholders 


248  ERRORS    CREDITED   IN   EUROPE. 

of  the  States  which  shall  decree  emancipation  ?  Why 
should  not  a  general  amnesty,  without  exception,  prevent 
reprisals  ?  Credit,  for  a  moment  abolished,  would  resume 
its  value  on  both  sides  ;  confiscations  would  be  revoked ; 
the  costs  of  the  war  would  rest  equally  on  all,  since  they 
would  form  a  part  of  the  national  debt ;  in  fine,  the  dis 
banding  of  the  troops,  the  reestablishment  of  the  regular 
working  of  institutions,  the  resurrection  of  Southern  cul 
tures,  the  encouragement  given  to  the  introduction  of  free 
labor  into  the  Cotton  States,  the  proclamation  and  prac 
tice  of  commercial  freedom,  would  give  equal  satisfaction 
to  interests  too  long  hostile. 

This  is  an  Utopian  vision,  I  fear.  It  seems  to  me, 
however,  that  I  should  have  failed  in  a  duty,  if,  among 
the  chances  of  reestablishing  the  Union,  I  had  omitted 
this  one. 

I  adopt  a  less  contestable  hypothesis,  supposing  the 
complete  victory  of  the  North,  and  the  submission  of  the 
South.  How  can  this  forced  submission  give  place  to  a 
cordial  union  ? 

The  abolition  of  slavery  presents  itself  anew  to  the 
mind.  Since  slavery  has  been  the  essential  and  almost  the 
only  cause  of  separation,  the  Union  will  be  reestablished 
only  on  condition  of  retrenching  slavery.  To  use  the 
American  expression,  liberty  must  be  declared  national, 
and  slavery  sectional.  Slavery  leads  to  isolation ;  the  in 
stinct  of  preservation  counsels  this ;  in  contact  with  free 
discussion  and  liberty,  it  could  not  but  perish. 

It  will,  therefore,  be  requisite  to  take  at  once,  in  the 
interest  of  the  Union,  a  decisive  measure  that  shall  de 
liver  the  future  from  the  horrible  evil  which  has  entailed 
so  much  suffering  on  the  past  and  present  of  America. 
This  is  absolutely  necessary ;  whether  the  war  be  termi- 


TIIE    SOUTH    WILL    NEVEB    BE    KLCLAIMED.  249 

nated  by  decisive  victories  or  by  an  amicable  arrangement, 
the  destruction  of  the  great  enemy  cannot,  under  any 
pretext,  be  questioned. 

I  do  not  pretend  that  the  immediate  freedom  of  the 
blacks  must  be  proclaimed ;  I  admit  circumspection, 
transitionary  measures,  whatever  may  serve  to  soften  a 
formidable  crisis  for  the  South.  But  it  is  essential  that 
the  principle  of  emancipation  be  laid  down  with  firmness. 

The  principle  once  laid  down,  every  thing  becomes 
modified  among  the  Southern  people — passions,  ambi 
tions,  and  interests.  Great  social  revolutions  have  this 
peculiarity,  that  it  is  only  necessary  for  them  to  become 
certain,  to  bring  forth  at  once  excellent  fruits.  They  will 
not  be  completed,  perhaps,  for  twenty  or  thirty  years  ; 
nevertheless,  from  the  beginning,  they  influence  minds 
and  transform  positions. 

Slavery  about  to  end  is  no  longer  wholly  slavery,  and 
its  monstrous  legislation  falls  to  the  ground  hv  piecemeal. 
The  indispensable  appeal  to  free  labor  introduces  a  new 
element  among  the  Southern  people.  The  course  of  par- 
tics  is  no  longer  the  same,  political  chances  present  them 
selves  under  a  different  aspect. 

We  have  pointed  out  the  influence  of  surroundings ; 
in  changing  the  surroundings  of  Southern  men,  their  sen 
timents  by  degrees  will  be  changed.  They  lack  nothing, 
in  order  again  to  become  leading  members  of  the  Union, 
in  order  again  to  win  perhaps  new  titles  to  the  rank  of 
which  they  so  long  preserved  the  monopoly — they  lack 
nothing,  except  to  be  themselves  delivered  from  the 
crushing  yoke  of  slavery.  Their  cause,  which  seemed  to 
serve  them  for  a  moment,  had  ended  by  destroying  them; 
they  were  in  danger  of  perishing  in  its  ruin.  But  let  a 
liberating  hand  restore  to  them  their  instincts  as  citizens 
of  a  free  country,  and  noble  men  will  rise  up  among  them, 


250  ERRORS    CREDITED    IX   EUROPE. 

the  world  will  cease  to  hate  them,  their  success  will  again 
become  the  success  of  the  human  race ;  far  from  fearing 
their  conquests,  we  shall  begin  to  desire  them.  What  a 
future  will  then  open  to  the  South !  These  States,  with 
such  fertile  soil  and  so  magnificent  a  climate,  will  go 
onward  at  last  toward  their  true  destinies.  European 
emigration,  which  turns  aside  with  horror  from  an  ac 
cursed  land,  will  flow  into  it  from  every  side  ;  liberty  will 
beckon  to  its  companions  ;  prosperity  and  peace  will  has 
ten  thither ;  the  South — I  borrow  the  expression  from  a 
Northern  orator — the  South  will  become  like  a  terrestrial 
paradise. 

Among  the  methods  which  lead  to  unity,  I  know  of 
none  of  equal  value  to  this — to  resolve  all  questions. 
Questions  unresolved  divide  men ;  questions  resolved 
draw  them  together.  So  long  as  it  is  possible  to  struggle 
against  a  social  progress,  evil  passions  will  rise  and  coal 
esce  against  it ;  as  soon  as  all  chances  of  success  have 
disappeared,  a  sudden  calm  succeeds  the  storm.  The  as 
pect  of  things  becomes  at  once  transformed ;  other  inter 
ests,  other  habits,  other  alliances,  other  hopes  arise; 
books,  journals,  pulpits  hold  a  different  language. 

When  a  great  question  is  resolved,  a  host  of  small 
ones  are  found  resolved  at  the  same  time;  these  can  be 
decided  in  no  other  manner :  the  French  revolution  was 
needed  to  abolish  seignorial  rights. 

Study  history,  and  you  will  see  the  value  of  the 
method  which  I  point  out.  Here  is  a  divided  country 
re.nt  by  the  war  of  hostile  classes — how  shall  unity  be 
established  in  it?  By  giving  it  the  civil  code.  Here 
is  another  country  where  creeds  are  at  strife — how  shall 
unity  be  established  in  it?  By  separating  the  Church 
from  the  State. 

We   can  never  know  how  many  fruitful  results   are 


THE    SOUTH    AVILL    NEVER    I3E    RECLAIMED.  251 

comprised  in  the  bold  solution  of  .1  single  question. 
Yesterday,  the  Emperor  of  Russia  emancipated  his  serfs; 
to-morrow,  Russia  will  have  political  liberties,  universi 
ties,  schools,  and  journals  ;  to-morrow,  the  spirit  of  re 
form  will  attack  its  administration  and  police. 

I  have  spoken  of  political  liberty ;  a  powerful  means 
will  also  be  found  therein  for  a  return  to  the  Union. 
After  the  defeat  of  the  South,  there  must  be  neither 
victors  nor  vanquished.  It  is  the  admirable  privilege  of 
free  countries  that  the  words  subjugation  and  conquest 
are  to  them  terms  destitute  of  meaning.  A  conquest 
would  leave  deep  wounds,  which  it  would  be  very  diffi 
cult  to  heal  ;  the  suppression  of  a  rebellion  leaves  no  such 
traces.  After  as  before  it,  I  see  equal  States,  equal  citi/A-n^, 
a  government  resting  equally  on  all.  After  as  before  it, 
the  independence  of  the  States  is  maintained,  their  rep 
resentatives  sit  in  Congress,  parties  contend  for  their 
votes,  their  influence  is  exercised  over  the  general  direc 
tion  of  affairs. 

To  have  been  brought  back  to  duty  dishonors  no  one, 
especially  when  former  rights  have  not  perished  in  the 
struggle.  Let  us  not  always  be  too  forgetful  of  the 
power  of  reconciliation  possessed  by  liberty.  Who  is  de 
finitively  the  conqueror?  Xeither  a  man  nor  a  party. 
The  constitution  is  the  conqueror;  and  it  prescribes  the 
law  that  the  conquered  shall  resume  possession  of  their 
rights  as  citizens.  Come,  vote,  your  right  has  not  perish 
ed;  we  know  neither  subject  peoples,  nor  subordinate 
republics;  you  have  no  other  master  than  the  supreme 
compact  by  which  we  are  all  bound ;  after  having  Cut 
down  the  chief  criminal,  which  is  slavery,  we  invite  you  to 
enjoy  with  us  the  blessings  in  store  for  free  nations ;  come, 


252  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

aid  us ;  come,  oppose  us ;  come,  take  your  broad  and  glo 
rious  place  among  a  people  which  is  your  own ! 

It  seems  to  me  that  such  language  must  find  its  way 
to  many  hearts.  By  the  side  of  compromised  and  hardened 
men,  the  South  contains  a  far  greater  number  of  others 
who  have  yielded  to  impulse.  If  their  present  hatreds 
are  ardent,  the  history  of  civil  wars  shows  us  that  hatreds 
no  less  ardent  have  become  assuaged  after  peace.  Civil 
and  political  equality  closes  many  wounds. 

Let  no  one  reproach  me  for  preserving  such  hopes.  I 
am  sure  of  nothing,  but  I  am  obstinate  in  hoping.  In  the 
interest  of  the  North  as  in  that  of  the  South,  I  do  not 
despair  of  seeing  them  ere  long  place  their  different 
genius  at  the  service  of  the  same  institutions.  The  prin 
ciple  of  abolition  once  laid  down,  the  North  and  South  once 
delivered  from  the  burden  which  is  crushing  them,  I  see 
them  united  both  by  their  resemblances  and  differences, 
completing  and  finally  appreciating  each  other.  Certainly 
the  place  of  Southern  men  will  not  be  small  in  the  coun 
try  which  they  have  sought  to  disrupt ;  the  sympathetic 
qualities  which  distinguish  them  have  indeed  their  value. 
They  have  spirit  and  ambition — they  are  the  Gascons  of 
America.  Now,  the  Gascons  have  never  ceased  to  take 
a  powerful  part  in  the  government  of  France,  although 
France  has  massacred  the  Albigenses,  although  the  langue 
doll  has  many  a  tune  trodden  the  langue  (Poc  under  foot. 

Northern  men  were  then  hard ;  at  this  time  things 
are  different.  It  is  necessary  that  they  should  be 
different. 

The  first  condition  of  the  reestablish  in  ent  of  the 
Union  is  that  the  North,  victorious,  (I  suppose  this  hypo 
thesis,)  give  proof  of  generosity.  No  refusals,  no  recrimi 
nations,  no  inequalities,  even  temporary !  Think  no  more 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NEVER   BE    RECLAIMED.  253 

of  the  past,  make  haste  to  blot  out  those  measures  of  con 
fiscation  which  grieve  your  friends,  do  not  say  to  your 
selves  that  the  rebellious  South  has  done  the  same ;  to 
reestablish  the  Union  is  more  difficult  than  to  destroy 
it;  it  needs  more  forgetfulness  of  injuries,  more  magna 
nimity  and  more  virtue. 

I  hold  this  language  with  confidence,  for  I  know  that 
the  North  is  far  from  being  exasperated,  as  is  supposed. 

At  the  present  time,  there  is  already  talk  of  amnesty. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  also  talk  of  excepting  the  princi 
pal  leaders ;  their  exemplary  punishment  is  demanded  as 
the  necessary  sanction  of  the  law  which  they  have  violated, 
of  the  blood  which  has  been  spilt  on  their  account.  This 
is  the  first  impulse;  which  will  give*  place,  I  am  sure,  to  a 
better  thought.  The  glory  of  the  United  States  will  be 
precisely  that  of  not  having  shed  a  drop  of  blood  on  the 
scaffold  after  having  poured  out  so  much  on  the  battle 
field.  There  is  herein  a  greatness,  a  guarantee  of  the 
future,  a  moral  recompense,  in  a  word,  far  superior  to  that 
which  would  be  obtained  by  the  vaunted  measures  of  politi 
cal  justice.  The  leaders  will  be  far  more  thoroughly  anni 
hilated  by  pardon  than  by  punishment.  The  magnanimous 
conduct  of  the  North  will  thus  manifest  a  feelin^  of  con- 

£? 

ndence  which  must  make  proselytes.  Behold  it !  it  is 
master  of  itself,  and,  although  determined  to  suppress  the 
rebellion,  it  is  far,  very  far  from  hating  the  rebels.  AVho 
does  not  see  that  it  even  experiences  a  touching  pity  on 
their  behalf,  choosing  rather  to  prolong  the  war  and  en 
danger  its  triumph,  than  to  let  loose  slave  insurrections  ? 
There  should  be  calmness  in  justice  ;  the  cause  of  right 
should  be  defended  in  a  spirit  of  peace.  The  other  day, 
on  the  announcement  of  the  conflagration  at  Charleston, 
a  subscription  for  the  sufferers  was  opened  at  the  New 
York  Exchange.  Those  who  took  the  lead  in  such  a 


254  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

patriotic  act  of  charity  did  much,  whether  they  knew  it 
or  not,  for  the  future  reestablishment  of  the  Union. 

Lastly,  I  will  not  leave  this  important  subject  without 
recalling  two  measures  which  I  have  mentioned  before, 
and  which  must  contribute  a  great  part  toward  bringing 
back  the  South.  The  first  is  the  abrogation  of  the  ultra 
protective  tariff,  the  broad  application  of  the  principle 
of  commercial  freedom.  The  second,  the  principal  one, 
I  should  say,  is  the  offer  of  an  indemnity  designed  to 
second  progressive  emancipation.  Apportioned  over  a 
term  of  twenty  years,  that  is  to  say,  lie  time  necessary 
to  complete  the  emancipation,  this  indemnity  will  not  ex 
ceed  the  resources  of  a  powerful  people.  Two  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  thus  appropriated  for  twenty  years  to 
this  work  of  peace  would  assure  to  the  masters  a  com 
pensation  at  least  equal  to  that  accorded  by  England  and 
France,  would  place  resources  at  the  service  of  a  difficult 
transformation,  and  would  retain  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Union,  the  most  infuriate  of  its  adversaries. 

I  have  shown  that  the  reestablishment  of  the  Union  is 
not  impossible,  I  might  have  shown  that  it  is  almost  ne 
cessary  ;  for  if  the  difficulties  of  union  are  great,  those 
of  separation  are  none  the  less  so. 

It  is  easy  to  write  the  word  separation  /  to  realize 
the  thing  is  assuredly  less  easy  ;  we  have  no  longer  an 
Alexander  VI.  to  trace  a  line  of  demarcation.  To  whom 
shall  be  given  Washington,  situated  in  a  slave  country? 
With  whom  will  the  other  Border  States  remain  ?  Will 
Tennessee,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina  drag  by  force  to 
the  South  those  fractions  of  their  territory  which  have 
just  rallied  to  the  support  of  the  North  ?  Will  free 
Kansas  be  delivered  up,  a  bleeding  victim,  into  the  hands 
of  those  who  surround  and  covet  her  on  every  side  ? 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NEVER    BE    RECLAIMED  255 

Will  the  inhabitants  of  the  West,  of  the  States  that  form 
the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri,  and  the  Ohio, 
be  told  that  they  must  renounce  the  mouths  of  their 
rivers,  that  New  Orleans  and  Texas  are  to  belong  to 
another  country,  a  hostile  country,  a  country  which 
Europe  will  ere  long,  perhaps,  have  under  her  protec 
tion  ? 

Picture  to  yourself  this  great  American  republic,  mu 
tilated,  separated  from  its  southern  boundary  and  its 
ports  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  deprived  of  Louisiana,  which 
it  had  purchased  from  France  ;  of  Florida,  which  it  had 
bought  of  the  Spaniards  and  Indians ;  of  Texas,  whoso 
debts  it  had  paid,  regulating  both  well  and  ill  these  ac 
counts  with  an  insolvent  neighbor,  securing  the  indemni 
ties  due  for  Federal  properties,  for  repudiated  credits,  for 
reciprocal  confiscations  !  The  North  and  the  South — this 
is  soon  said  ;  but  where  does  the  North  begin,  and  where 
does  the  South  end?  Does  the  North  end  at  the  Potomac, 
which  cuts  in  two  the  faithful  State  of  Maryland  ?  Does 
the  South  stop  at  Tennessee,  beyond  which  the  rebellion 
of  slavery  has  found  partisans?  The  fact  is,  that  from  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  great  Canadian  lakes,  we  find  the 
same  nation.  On  the  day  when  it  shall  be  wished  to  sep 
arate  the  North  and  South,  it  will  be  necessary  to  trace 
I  know  not  what  uncertain  line  through  the  loyal  States, 
through  the  rebel  States,  through  the  slave  States, 
through  rivers,  through  railroads — a  line  which  would 
place  a  custom-house  with  a  body  of  guards  at  every 
point  of  this  vast  frontier. 

Tell  me  not  that  there  will  be  peace,  that  the  absolute 
freedom  of  commerce  will  be  proclaimed,  that  custom 
houses  and  guards  will  consequently  be  useless,  and  that 
the  weakness  of  the  frontiers  will  occasion  no  inconven 
ience.  Who  does  not  see  that  such  a  division  is  war, 


256          ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

war  always  and  everywhere  ?  European  commerce  some 
times  wishes  the  realization  of  this  bad  dream !  It  talks 
of  amicable  separation,  of  pacific  separation  ;  it  has  the 
appearance  of  believing  that  by  merely  putting  peace 
into  words,  it  will  put  it  into  things !  Things  are  less 
accommodating  than  words.  From  the  state  of  distrust 
to  the  state  of  war,  it  is  never  very  far.  Now,  what  will 
be  the  remediless  distrust  between  the  mutilated  United 
States  and  the  rebellious  South,  transferred  into  a  govern 
ment  ?  I  waive  all  that  pertains  to  slavery ;  I  suppose 
that  the  South,  forced  in  any  case  to  resign  itself  to  pro 
gressive  emancipation,  will  make  up  its  mind  to  continual 
escapes,  to  provocations  coming  from  the  North,  to  abo 
lition  appeals  from  the  Northern  press.  But  will  the 
North,  in  turn,  make  up  its  mind  to  see  the  influences 
and  the  busy  action  of  Europe  installed  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  American  continent? 

Let  us  see  things  as  they  are.  The  South,  miserable, 
ruined,  dependent,  forced  to  lean  on  some  one,  will  seek 
and  find  a  protector.  This  will  be  a  great  misfortune  to 
America,  and,  I  do  not  fear  to  say,  a  no  less  great  misfor 
tune  to  Europe. 

The  moment  has  not  come  to  insist  on  this  point. 
What  I  have  just  said  suffices  to  show  that  questions  are 
not  suppressed  with  phrases,  and  that  the  line  formula, 
"  an  amicable  separation,"  resolves  no  difficulty.  The 
United  States  will  resign  themselves  to  it  in  case  it  should 
become  absolutely  necessary  ;  I  am  the  first  to  counsel 
them  this  sacrifice  ;  but  I  would  speak  falsely  should  I 
present  to  them  an  assured  peace  as  the  consequence  of 
such  a  resolution.  By  force  of  wisdom,  it  might  perhaps 
be  attained.  Perhaps  the  wisdom  of  Europe  would  also 
aid  in  it,  and  the  South  would  be  left  to  itself.  However 
this  might  be,  nothing  would  be  concluded,  and  it  might 


THE    SOUTH    AVILL    NEVER    BE    RECLAIMED.  257 

be  even  maintained  that  a  new  problem,  no  less  perilous 
than  the  old,  would  bc<j;in  to  propound  itself.  The  at 
tempt  would  he  made,  which  would  indeed  be  something, 
to  live  on  good  terms;  the  peril  of  standing  armies  and 
huge  expenditures  would  be  escaped  ;  nevertheless,  this 
peril  would  threaten  to  reappear  from  one  moment  to 
another,  and  the  day  that  a  European  intrigue  should 
penetrate  the  South — that  day  of  itself  would  rekindle 
the  war. 

Onee  more,  there  is  less  arbitrariness  and  chance  in 
the  formation  of  national  territories  than  is  affirmed.  It 
is  not  the  will  of  man  nor  the  caprice  of  treaties  that 
has  made  by  itself  alone  a  France,  a  Switzerland,  an 
England.  The  laws  of  geography  arc  something,  al 
though  they  certainly  are  not  everything.  Now  if  there 
be  a  country  whose  unity  is  written  on  the  soil  itself,  so 
that,  on  looking  at  a  map,  we  can  scarcely  comprehend  its 
being  broken  into  fractions,  it  is  precisely  the  one  which 
we  are  considering.  The  same  chain  of  mountains  runs 
through  it  from  one  end  to  the  other,  its  eastern  plain  is 
interrupted  by  nothing,  its  interior  plain  is  one  vast  valley, 
the  valley  of  a  single  river,  running  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  ;  its  homogeneousness  is  obvious;  there  is 
in  it  evidently  an  organic  life,  which  it  is  unjustifiable  not 
to  take  into  account.  I  marvel  at  those  who  demonstrate 
to  us  at  length  the  impossibilities  of  union,  and  do  not 
perceive  the  difficulties  of  separation.  To  accept  the  lat 
ter  as  a  last  resort,  may  become  necessary;  to  seek  it  as 
an  ideal,  is  indeed  what  I  cannot  comprehend. 

I  know  of  but  one  thing  more  detestable  than  separa 
tion  ;  it  is  conquest.  To  subjugate,  to  hold  garrison,  to 
reduce  the  Southern  States  to  the  condition  of  provinces, 
to  send  and  long  maintain  among  them  governors  from 


258  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

Massachusetts  or  Illinois,  to  enter  upon  the  system  of 
subject  republics,  to  proclaim  a  lasting  suspension  of  con 
stitutional  rights — what  are  we  to  call  all  this  ?  We  know 
what  Venices  and  Polands  cost  Europe,  what  they  cost, 
not  in  money  or  soldiers  alone,  but  in  honor  and  liberty. 
An  American  Poland  or  Venice  would  be  far  worse.  To 
give  itself  the  pleasure  of  crushing  the  South,  the  North 
would  begin  by  immolating  its  own  institutions.  This 
would  be  true  suicide. 

Let  us  not  disguise  it,  men  are  found  in  the  North  who 
have  accepted  the  idea  of  a  conquest,  with  all  its  conse 
quences.  Many  others  go  forward  toward  it,  without  too 
closely  examining  things,  saying  to  themselves  in  vague 
terms  that  great  circumstances  call  for  great  measures,  and 
that  if  it  be  necessary  to  make  a  few  transient  sacrifices, 
America  will  not  shrink  from  them. 

These  so-called  transient  sacrifices  are  of  those  which 
bear  in  history  the  name  of  revolution.  A  thousand  times 
rather  separation,  with  its  inconveniences  and  dangers, 
than  the  death  of  the  United  States !  They  would  die  on 
the  day  when,  making  themselves  conquerors  and  oppress 
ors,  they  should  assume  a  system  appropriate  to  this  role, 
a  military  dictatorship,  a  large  standing  army,  exceptional 
laws. 

There  is  no  medium — after  the  defeat  of  the  slave 
States,  and  past  the  very  brief  moment  when  the  reestab- 
lishment  of  political  and  material  order  will  exact  the 
adoption  of  transitory  measures,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
govern  these  States  either  as  a  conquered  country  or  as 
free  members  of  the  great  republic.  Lay  aside  the  plans 
of  military  colonization,  and  other  follies,  which  the  press 
lias  put  forward  ;  have  faith  in  liberty ! — it  has  often  done 
and  will  do  miracles.  When  the  South,  delivered  from 
the  terror  which  is  weighing  upon  it,  delivered  also  from 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NEVER    BE    RECLAIMED.  259 

the  illusions  by  which  it  has  been  lulled,  having  no  longer 
to  occupy  itself  with  slavery,  the  destiny  of  which  will 
have  been  fixed  before  the  end  of  the  war,  will  find  itself 
called  to  participate  as  before  in  the  votes  of  Congress,  it 
will  not  perhaps  bring  to  it  the  best  possible  spirit;  I 
think,  however,  that  this  spirit  of  opposition  will  become 
rapidly  modified  under  the  influence  of  a  position  radi 
cally  changed. 

In  fine,  it  is  the  nature  of  governments  to  exist  with 
greater  or  less  opposition.  This  one,  if  it  hold  out,  will 
contribute  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  Xorth,  and  Avill 
play  the  part  of  an  increasingly  feeble  minority;  it  will  be 
swallowed  up  in  the  rapid  development  of  free  States, 
territories  attained  to  the  rank  of  States,  and  all  endowed 
with  liberty. 

But  it  appears  to  me  more  probable  that,  under  the 
light  yoke  of  the  constitution  and  laws,  happy  in  regain 
ing  their  original  independence,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
South  will  rally  in  great  part  around  their  country  and 
flag.  The  old  questions  will  have  disappeared,  new  inter 
ests  will  appeal  to  hearts,  parties  will  become  transformed, 
and  as  nothing  will  recall  the  defeat,  as  reprisals  will  be 
absent,  as  the  traces  of  civil  war  will  be  carefully  effaced, 
as  the  victors  will  have  no  right  that  will  not  belong  to 
the  vanquished,  a  better  triumph  than  that  which  is  won, 
sword  in  hand,  the  triumph  over  prejudices  and  hatred, 
will  come  perhaps  to  crown  a  policy  as  skilful  as  gen 
erous. 

I  know  of  no  other  counsel  to  the  United  States — to 
conquer  first,  to  bring  back  afterward  ;  to  bring  back  by 
the  opportune  solution  of  the  problem  of  slavery,  by  the 
immediate  and  bold  reestablishment  of  liberty. 

I  add  that  if,  in  spite  of  abolition,  and  in  spite  of  lib- 
12 


260  ERRORS    CREDITED   IX   EUROPE. 

erty,  a  violent  resistance  be  maintained  in  a  few  States, 
if  nothing  be  found  there  but  sullenness  and  opposition, 
if  the  state  of  war  be  reawakened  there  unceasingly,  if  it 
become  necessary  to  return  there  from  day  to  day,  rather 
than  hold  garrison  in  these  States,  it  would  be  fitting  to 
abandon  them  to  their  evil  destiny.  At  no  price  should 
permanent  occupation  be  admitted. 

I  should  have  foreseen  an  extreme  case,  which  appears 
to  me,  I  acknowledge,  far  from  probable.  But  no  matter, 
though  improbable,  it  is  not  impossible.  There  is  a  cor 
ner  of  America,  the  same  in  which  the  rebellion  was  born, 
the  corner  formed  by  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida, 
and  Alabama,  which  will  remain,  perhaps,  in  insurrection, 
and  will  not  rally  to  the  Union,  despite  the  defeat  of  the 
South,  and  the  repossession  by  the  Federal  troops  of 
the  fortresses  and  arsenals.  Perhaps  it  will  not  limit 
itself  to  making  opposition  in  Congress,  or  even  refusing 
to  be  represented  there  ;  perhaps  perpetual  disturbances, 
a  lasting  agitation,  will  manifest  the  determination  of  a 
people  resolved  to  remain  alien  and  hostile. 

Then  would  be  the  time  when  the  United  States,  con 
solidated  on  their  essential  frontiers,  in  possession  of  the 
mouths  of  the  Mississippi,  having  besides  denied  by  force 
of  arms  the  right  of  separation,  certain  thenceforth  of 
escaping  the  system  of  amicable  dissolution  recommended 
to  them  by  so  many  pretended  friends,  might  address  the 
following  language  with  honor  and  security  to  the  four 
or  five  refractory  States  :  "  We  will  not  sacrifice  to  you 
our  principles  and  institutions  ;  we  will  not  hold  garrison 
among  you,  and  enter  upon  the  system  of  standing  armies ; 
we  will  not  pretend  to  constrain  you  to  bo  free  and  hap 
py.  Go  then,  attempt  to  live  alone ;  some  day,  we  will 
see  you  return  to  us." 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    SOUTH    AVILL    NOT   BE    CONQUERED. 

THERE  arc  causes  for  which  it  is  to  our  honor  to  fight, 
without  troubling  ourselves  too  much  about  the  chances 
of  success  or  reverses.  A  principle  is  involved;  this  is 
enough  for  us,  happen  what  may  !  And  this  is  the  way  in 
which  great  things  are  accomplished;  the  principle  is  main 
tained,  and  success  comes  into  the  bargain.  Such  is  the 
fate  which  awaits  the  United  Slates,  should  their  war 
become  more  and  more  what  it  was  not  enough  at  first — 
a  war  of  justice.  Not  only  will  European  opinion  de 
clare  itself  with  increasing  warmth,*  but  they  will  meet 
Union  elements  in  the  conquered  South,  which  will  fa 
cilitate  the  task  undertaken.  Besides  the  Germans  of 
Texas,  besides  the  inhabitants  of  the  mountainous  regions 
in  Xortli  Carolina,  Tennessee,  Virginia,  and  Alabama, 
they  will  see  all  those  return  to  the  old  country  whom 
the  defeat  of  the  South  will  have  disenchanted  or  affran 
chised,  all  those  whom  abolition,  steadfastly  advancing, 
will  have  brought  face  to  face  with  a  new  future. 

*  I  am  happy  to  cite  here  one  of  the  most  eminent  minds  of  Europe, 
the  great  economist  and  logician,  Stuart  Mill.  He  has  just  defended,  in 
a  much  remarked  article  in  Frazer^s  Magazine,  the  same  theories  which 
I  maintain  here. 


202  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

But  still  it  is  necessary  to  conquer  ;  and  here  is  a  con 
tested  point.  The  champions  of  the  insurrectional  gov 
ernment  at  Richmond,  who  display  so  much  activity 
among  us,  do  not  content  themselves  with  affirming  with 
imperturbable  coolness  that  the  conquered  South  will  not 
return  to  the  Union  ;  they  affirm  with  no  less  coolness  that 
the  South  will  not  be  conquered. 

It  would  be  easy  for  me  to  oppose  to  these  bold 
affirmations,  which  were  much  bolder  two  months  ago, 
the  recent  victories  of  the  Union.  I  shall  do  nothing  of 
the  sort.  The  issue  of  the  conflict  is  still  in  the  hands  of 
God,  and  I  do  not  feel  the  right  to  say  that  no  disaster 
can  arise.  I,  who  believed  in  success  when  few  believed 
in  it,  have  not  ceased  to  believe  in  it  now  that  few  doubt 
it ;  but  success  may  be  more  or  less  slow,  more  or  less 
surrounded  with  difficulties  and  reverses.  I  shall  not 
therefore  imitate  my  opponents,  but  shall  employ  a  more 
modest  language.  Not  feeling  any  vocation  for  the  char 
acter  of  prophet,  I  shall  take  care  not  to  recount  here  in 
advance  events  that  are  about  to  happen.  I  marvel  at 
people  who  are  so  sure  of  their  facts  !  The  future  has 
not  the  least  obscurity  for  them,  it  has  much  for  me. 
I  confine  myself  to  protesting  against  the  positive  asser 
tions  which  have  contributed  but  too  greatly  to  mislead 
the  opinion  of  Europe.  My  humble  theory  is  this  :  the 
defeat  of  the  South  is  probable,  the  return  of  the  conquered 
South  to  the  Union  is  possible. 

If  I  have  not  arranged  my  propositions  in  this  order, 
it  has  been  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  great  question  ;  to 
that  which  disquiets  earnest  minds,  to  that  which  is  worth 
the  pains  of  debating.  As  to  the  chances  of  the  struggle, 
I  should  have  less  trouble  in  showing  the  enormity  of  the 
errors  which  have  been  successfully  propagated.  It  will 
suffice  for  me  to  take  things  as  they  stand  at  the  moment 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  XOT  BE  CONQUERED.       263 

of  my  writing,  and  compare  them  with  the  predictions 
which  have  been  made  us.  The  most  decided  and  most 
untrue  affirmations  of  the  past  will  enlighten  us  on  the 
value  of  the  new  affirmations  which  are  produced  without 
ceasing.  We  shall  have  neither  to  examine  them  in  de 
tail,  nor  still  less  to  fling  ourselves  into  the  dangerous 
trade  of  political  or  military  vaticination.  I  seek,  it  is 
known,  to  place  myself  on  such  ground  that  my  observa 
tions  will  endure,  whatever  may  be,  moreover,  the  course 
of  affairs  in  America.  The  study  of  principles  should  not 
resemble  a  book  written  ior  the  occasion. 

We  are  to  distrust  the  news  which  is  sent  us  from 
America.  I  know  not  where  it  is  manufactured  ;  but  at 
critical  moments,  above  all,  and  when  it  is  in  question  to 
urge  us  to  some  lolly,  inaccurate  accounts  follow  one 
after  the  other.  I  will  only  recall  what  happened  in  thoM1 
weeks  of  anguish  when  the  Trent  affair  was  in  process  of 
negotiation,  and  when  the  peace  of  the  world,  as  well  as 
the  late  of  America,  seemed  to  hang  on  a  single  thread. 

The  telegraph  then  informed  us,  again  and  again,  first, 
that  the  city  of  Xew  York  had  illuminated  in  honor 
of  Captain  Wilkes ;  next,  that  all  the  principal  cities  of 
the  North  had  accorded  to  him  the  freedom  of  citizen 
ship ;  lastly,  which  was  more  serious,  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
had  addressed  to  the  new  Swedish  minister,  Count  Piper, 
an  official  address  almost  announcing  a  rupture  with  Eng 
land.  The  precise  language  was  given  us :  "  It  is  our 
destiny  to  encounter,  for  the  third  time,  the  open  hostility, 
hereditary  jealousy  and  prejudices  of  Great  Britain.  .  .  . 
Well ;  be  it  so  !  we  will  sustain  the  shock  of  battle  like 
freemen."  What  did  it  matter  to  the  authors  of  this 
imaginary  harangue  that  it  would  come  to  us  later  from 
Stockholm,  just  as  it  had  been  delivered;  that  is,  as  pa 
cific  and  inoffensive  as  possible  ?  Later  would  be  too 


264  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

late  ;  the  North  would  be  attacked  and  the  South  rec 
ognized. 

The  illuminations,  of  course,  had  existed  nowhere  but 
in  the  imagination  of  newspaper  correspondents.  And  as 
to  the  diplomas,  conferring  the  freedom  of  the  cities,  so 
far  from  having  been  delivered,  freedom  of  cities  does 
not  exist  in  the  United  States. 

I  might  cite  many  other  examples ;  were  we  not  in 
formed  that  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  the  two  principal 
Border  States,  had  forsaken  the  Union,  and  voted  their 
adhesion  to  the  South  ?  Now,  the  votes  in  question  were 
those  cast  in  a  few  villages  by  some  wandering  members 
of  dissolved  legislatures.  At  the  same  time,  the  state 
ment  of  the  genuine  votes  was  published,  and  the  result 
was,  as  far  as  Kentucky  was  concerned,  that,  of  the  one 
hundred  and  ninety-two  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  voters  comprised  in  this  State,  one  hundred  and 
seventy-six  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  had 
voted  in  favor  of  the  Union,  and  but  sixteen  thousand 
five  hundred  and  twenty-five  against  it. 

Later,  when  it  was  in  question  to  prove  to  Europe 
that  great  military  operations  were  impossible,  it  was 
gravely  published  in  our  journals  that  the  armies  "were 
going  into  winter  quarters."  There  was  some  chance  in 
this  wise  of  exciting  the  impatience  of  the  manufacturing 
centres,  and  deciding  Europe  to  break  the  blockade. 
But  I  should  be  ashamed  to  dwell  further  on  the  subject. 

If  it  be  unjustifiable  to  invent  false  news,  is  it  quite 
justifiable  to  propagate  ill-founded  predictions?  Who  may 
not  be  mistaken?  Less  than  any,  would  I  contest  this 
right  to  err  sometimes,  but  to  err  always,  is  somewhat 
less  innocent,  perhaps.  Now,  here  are  a  few  of  the  pre 
dictions  which  have  made  a  great  noise  among  us,  which 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       2G5 

have   been   admitted  as  equal  to  truth,  and  which  have 
been  since  replaced  by  others,  no  less  cordially  welcomed. 

The  South,  being  ready  and  armed,  was  in  a  lew  days 
to  cross  the  Potomac,  occupy  the  Border  States,  rally 
together  all  the  slave  States,  and  dictate  peace  in  the 
walls  of  the  capital. — We  know  how  much  of  this  it  has 
done. 

Missouri,  Kentucky,  and  Maryland  were  about  to 
make  common  cause  with  the  South. — They  have  ranged 
themselves  on  the  side  of  the  Union. 

After  Hull  Uun  the  North,  terrified,  was  about  to  lay 
down  its  arm-;;  after  Lexington,  the  gates  of  St.  Louis  were 
about  to  open;  after  the  removal  of  General  Fremont,  and 
the  discouraging  reports  of  Adjutant-General  Thomas,  the 
West  was  about  to  witness  the  rapid  triumph  of  the  insur 
rection.  Events  have  so  fully  reversed  these  prophecies 
that  we  may  be  pardoned  for  not  being  d;>m:m-d  heynnd 
measure  on  hearing  the  new  prophecies — it,  is  possible 
that  the  South  may  be  toiled  in  its  attacks,  but  it  is  itself 
inassailable;  it  will  not  be  pursued  home,  the  Federal  army 
cannot  depart  from  its  base  of  operations  ;  money  is  about 
to  fail ;  an  amicable  separation  is  about  to  be  signed. 

"  Near "  recognition  has  been  announced  more  than 
twenty  times,  with  circumstantial  details  which  should 
leave  room  for  no  doubt.  The  negotiations  which  were 
about  to  effect  the  contestation  of  the  blockade  by  Europe 
have  been  reported  in  no  less  precise  a  manner. — The  dan 
ger  has  been  real,  I  am  aware ;  it  is  nevertheless  certain 
that  the  makers  of  prognostics  have  hitherto  been  unlucky 
in  their  predictions. 

The  North  was  without  cnthusiam,  incapable  of  im 
pulse  and  sacrifice  ;  divided,  moreover,  drawn  in  different 
directions  by  the  abolitionists,  republicans,  and  democrats, 
comprising  a  great  number  of  men  devoted  to  the  South, 


266  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

appealed  to  by  its  interests,  it  was  about  to  force  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  dictate  peace  and  to  impose  compromises. — The 
unanimity  has  been  complete  ;  the  idea  of  buying  peace 
by  concessions  made  to  slavery  has  lost  ground  from  the 
beginning,  and  has  ended  by  becoming  entirely  effaced. 

New  York  was  to  detach  itself  from  the  North,  and 
declare  itself  a  free  city;  the  great  Western  States, 
through  other  motives,  could  not  be  long  in  doing  the 
same ;  as  to  California,  it  was  a  matter  of  course. — New 
York,  the  West,  and  California  are  more  than  ever  at 
tached  to  the  Union. 

Riots  were  about  to  break  out  in  larffe  cities  :  social- 

O 

ism  was  already  lifting  its  head  ;  the  numerous  working 
men  of  New  England,  reduced  to  the  most  extreme 
misery  by  the  scarcity  of  cotton,  were  preparing  direful 
embarrassments  for  the  Government  at  Washington. — The 
domestic  peace  has  not  been  disturbed  for  a  single  instant. 

Congress,  irritated  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  had  decided  on 
deposing  him  ;  revolutionary  measures  would  not  be  long 
in  being  adopted. — The  conduct  of  Congress,  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  has  been  as  calm  as  patriotic. 

The  reaction  of  great  defeats  could  not  be  supported 
by  the  democratic  populations  of  the  North,  the  cry  of 
treason  wras  about  to  make  itself  heard,  the  Government 
was  about  to  find  itself  drawn  on  to  adopt  extreme  meas 
ures,  to  decree  the  penalty  of  death  against  rebels,  to 
let  loose  negro  insurrections. — Great  disasters  have  been 
supported  with  the  calmness  inspired  by  strength,  the 
Government  has  not  shed  a  drop  of  blood,  and  has  applied 
itself  to  prevent  slave  insurrections. 

The  Trent  affair  was  premeditated  ;  it  was  infallibly 
to  bring  about  war ;  in  default  of  the  cabinet,  the  popu 
lace  would  take  it  upon  itself  to  hurl  the  nation  against 
England ;  the  impulse  would  be  irresistible. — The  Gov- 


THE  SOUTH  AVILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERDD.       2C7 

ernraent  had  premeditated  nothing,  the  populace  has 
exacted  nothing-,  the  nation  and  its  leaders  have  preserved 
a  most  worthy  attitude. 

The  enlistments  of  volunteers  were  to  become  impos 
sible  ;  States  were  cited  where  not  a  single  man  consented 
to  rejoin  the  standard. — Six  or  seven  hundred  thousand 
men  have  rejoined  it ;  every  State  lias  exceeded  its  con 
tingent  ;  and  one  State,  Ohio,  has  offered  by  itself  alone 
more  volunteers  than  were  at  first  demanded  of  the  en 
tire  Union. 

There  could  be  none  but  three  monlii.s'  volunteers; 
an  undisciplined  and  ridiculous  crowd,  unceasingly  deci 
mated  by  desertion,  mutinying  against  its  officers. — Vol 
unteers  for  a  year,  volunteers  for  the  war  are  alone  ac 
cepted,  discipline  is  making  vast  progress,  there  is  no 
longer  either  mutiny  or  desertion. 

Loans  were  to  find  no  takers,  taxes  were  to  provoke 
insurrections,  commercial  and  industrial  sufferings  were 
to  bring  the  Xorth  to  a  composition.  Loans  have  been 
taken,  taxes  have  been  paid,  sufferings  have  been  suj>- 
ported. 

Probably  we  are  not  at  the  end.  The  paper  currency 
is  about  to  furnish  a  text  for  declamations  ;  men  will  not 
content  themselves  with  regretting  the  use  of  this  means, 
but  will  sec  in  it  a  symptom  of  dissolution;  they  will  an 
nounce  to  us  for  to-morrow  the  forced  cessation  of  the 
war,  or  for  the  day  after,  bankruptcy.  It  is  evident  of 
itself,  besides,  that  the  South,  on  its  part,  is  neither  ex 
hausted  nor  miserable,  that  its  loans  are  taken  without 
difficulty,  that  its  treasury  is  full,  that  its  armies  have 
abundance,  that  it  can  raise  as  many  soldiers  as  it  pleases, 
that  it  does  not  accept  volunteers  for  three  or  six  months, 
that  its  government  is  popular,  that  opposition  and  di 
visions  are  unknown  among  it,  that,  in  a  word,  it  pos- 
12* 


268  EEEOES    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

sesses  (I  recall  the  language  which  was  lately  held  to  us) 
all  the  conditions  of  certain  and  rapid  success. 

"Why  then  does  it  not  succeed  ?  Things  went  much 
better  with  it  a  year  ago  than  to-day.  In  the  beginning, 
it  had  every  thing  on  its  side  ;  thanks  to  treason,  it  found 
itself  in  a  position  to  attack,  and  the  North  did  not  seem 
to  be  in  a  position  to  defend.  Notwithstanding,  at  the 
first  cannon  ball  that  it  iired,  the  whole  North  arose,  has 
tened  forward,  and  raised  an  invincible  barrier  between 
the  capital  and  Charleston.  The  South  then  lost  its  first 
illusion. 

The  battle  of  Bull  Run  made  it  lose  the  second.  It 
lacked  nothing,  it  seemed,  but  a  great  success,  to  demor 
alize  the  North  and  draw  in  Europe.  It  had  its  great  suc 
cess;  yet  the  North  was  found  firmer  after  it  than  ever, 
while  Europe  had  not  advanced  a  step.  A  conqueror, 
but  terrified,  as  it  were,  at  its  own  victory,  it  dared  not 
risk  itself  outside  its  studied  and  leisurely  fortified  posi 
tions.  Not  to  have  marched  at  this  moment  upon  Wash 
ington  was  to  have  retrograded,  and  greatly. 

The  third  illusion  of  the  South  took  flight  the  day  its 
commissioners  reembarked  on  board  an  English  steamer. 
It  had  believed  itself  this  time  very  near  the  end,  recog 
nition  was  within  its  grasp,  and  aid  from  outside  was  about 
to  arrive.  Bitter  deception !  Neither  recognition  nor  aid; 
far  from  that,  liberal  and  Christian  opinion,  the  great  en 
emy  of  the  South,  awakens  from  its  torpor. 

How  the  respective  positions  have  become  modified 
within  the  year !  In  the  beginning,  the  South  alone  was 
armed,  alone  prepared,  alone  officered;  it  was  three 
months  in  advance  ;  the  Federal  army  had  been  dispersed 
and  sent  to  a  distance  with  so  much  care,  that  at  the  mo 
ment  of  the  greatest  anxiety,  the  commander- in-chief  had 
difficulty  to  assemble  a  few  soldiers  in  the  menaced  capi- 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       269 

tal ;  the  fleet  had  been  so  adroitly  dismantled  that,  on 
the  4th  of  March,  1801,  when  the  new  administration 
took  the  power,  there  were  no  vessels  to  secure  the  ex 
ecution  of  the  laws  and  protect  the  national  property;  of 
seventy-two  vesscls-of-war  which  the  nation  then  pos 
sessed,  the  steamer  Brooklyn  of  twenty-live  guns,  and 
the  transport  ll<:li<f  of  two  guns,  alone  remained  within 
reach  of  Mr.  Lincoln;  on  the  whole  extent  of  the  South 
ern  coasts,  the  Federal  fortresses  had  been  abandoned  to 
such  a  point  that  the  greater  part  were  seized  at  the  first 
moment  by  the  insurgents,  as  well  as  at  least  a  thousand 
pieces  of  artillery  ;  arms  had  been  conveyed  to  the  South 
ern  arsenals,  and  this  on  a  large  scale  ;  more  than  one 
hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  muskets  of  the  best  pat 
terns  had  been  sent  into  the  slave  States,  ami  two  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  percussion  muskets  had  been  sold 
to  them  beside,  at  a  price  representing  less  than  one- 
fourth  their  value  ;  the  treasury,  lately  still  so  ricn,  had 
been  outrageously  pillaged  ;  treason  continued  to  sur 
round  the  new  government,  not  one  of  whose,  military 
measures  was  not  communicated  on  the  spot  to  the  insur 
rectional  generals;  it  succeeded  Mr.  Buchanan,  who,  in 
a  solemn  message,  had  just  stammered  out  excuses,  and 
rendered  as  doubtful  as  in  him  lay,  the  right  of  defend 
ing  Fort  Sumter  against  the  assailants.  Such  was  the 
starting-point;  the  Southern  army,  and  I  comprehend  it, 
expected  to  encamp  before  long  in  Washington.  How 
many  weeks,  days  perhaps,  would  it  need  to  bring  to 
reason  this  handful  of  men,  this  novice  of  a  president,  this 
divided  country,  this  population  of  fanners  and  mer 
chants,  strangers  to  the  vocation  of  arms  ? 

We  have  no  longer  to  ask,  as  was  then  done,  whether 
the  regiments  charged  with  protecting  the  capital  could 
succeed  in  doing  so,  and  could  open  a  way  through  the 


270  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

hostile  streets  of  Baltimore.  To-day,  in  spite  of  several 
grave  reverses,  Bull  Run,  Springfield,  and  Lexington, 
the  United  States  have  everywhere  resumed  the  offens 
ive.  They  have  an  army,  they  have  a  fleet ;  they  occupy 
the  principal  Border  States ;  they  have  not  permitted  the 
war  to  go  beyond  the  enemy's  country ;  they  have  set 
foot  on  the  territory  of  the  insurgent  States,  while  the 
South  has  not  even  succeeded  in  holding  in  Eastern  Vir 
ginia  the  ground  conquered  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
•while  it  has  lost  two  counties  and  a  population  of  fifteen 
thousand  souls ;  it  lias  fallen  back  also  in  Western  Vir 
ginia,  it  has  fallen  back  in  Missouri,  it  has  fallen  back  in 
Kentucky  ;  it  has  seen  invaded  under  its  eyes  and  without 
daring  oppose  it,  the  very  suburbs  of  Charleston  and 
Savannah.  Port  Royal  in  South  Carolina,  Tybee  Island 
in  Georgia,  Fort  Pickens  in  Florida,  Ship  Island  in  Missis 
sippi  :  such  are  a  few  of  the  points  occupied.  Redoubt 
able  preface  of  the  more  serious  attacks  in  the  course  of 
preparation !  The  national  flag,  so  rudely  thrown  down, 
now  floats  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  South.  The 
South  has  not  ceased  to  retrograde,  the  North  has  not 
ceased  to  advance. 

The  punishment  of  Charleston  was  not  long  in  com 
ing.  A  year  had  hardly  elapsed,  when  already  the  for 
tress  of  Beaufort  was  retaken  from  the  South  Carolinians, 
already  the  principal  outlets  of  the  harbor  of  Charleston 
were  closed  by  a  barricade  destined  to  last  as  long  as  the 
war.  I  do  not  speak  of  the  sinister  conflagration  which 
vessels  in  the  offing  contemplated  with  terror  a  few 
months  ago. 

The  impotence  of  the  South  has  just  been  demon 
strated  by  the  year  that  has  passed  away.  The  rebel 
lion  began  in  pride,  it  runs  the  risk  of  ending  quite 
differently.  Whilst  it  has  not  succeeded  in  occupying  a 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NOT   BE    CONQUERED  271 

single  inch  of  free  soil,  the  Xorth  has  created  a  navy  and 
patiently  disciplined  an  army  ;  it  is  doing  many  things 
declared  impossible — it  has  remained  united,  it  has  es 
caped  disturbances  from  the  mob,  it  has  raised  as  many 
volunteers  as  it  has  wished,  it  has  not  sought  the  support 
which  might  have  been  lent  it  by  slave  insurrections. 

Europe  has  known  little  of  the  spirit  of  patriotism  and 
sacrifice  of  which  the  Xorth  has  just  given  proof. 

I  remember  the  derision  that  found  utterance  among 
us,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  talked  of  raising  four  hundred 
thousand  men.  It  was  much  worse  when  Congress  in 
creased  the  number  to  live  hundred  thousand.  Half  a 
million  of  men  to  be  raised  thus  from  one  day  to  the 
next!  Armies  of  this  sort  to  be  improvised!  I  do  not 
know  whether  this  is  contrary  to  rule;  but  it  cannot  be 
now  contested  that  five  hundred  thousand,  I  am  mis 
taken,  six  hundred  thousand  men,  and  more',  have  offered 
themselves  with  eagerness — that  the  transformation  of 
these  volunteers  into  soldiers  has  been  effected  in  some 
measure  in  spite  of  prodigious  difficulties;  history  records 
few  facts  so  extraordinary.  There  are  some  States,  Penn 
sylvania  for  instance,  which  have  furnished  a  hundred 
thousand  men,  greatly  exceeding  the  amount  of  the  quota 
required  of  them. 

The  impulse  which  followed  the  attack  on  Fort  Sum- 
tcr  was  truly  magnificent  ;  stores  were  deserted,  farms 
remained  tmtilled,  manufactories  interrupted  their  work 
— was  it  not  necessary  to  hasten  at  the  call  of  a  menaced 
country  ?  In  a  single  day,  Xew  England  found  herself 
in  the  Meld  ;  the  West  did  not  remain  behind  ;  far  from 
the  theatre  of  action,  on  the  lakes,  in  the  solitudes,  men 
made  ready  for  the  combat.  I  add,  that  the  battle  of 


272  ERRORS    CREDITED    IX    EUROPE. 

Bull  Run,  instead  of  arresting  this  impulse,  only  gave  it 
more  ardor. 

And  the  North  has  not  only  furnished  soldiers,  it  has 
also  furnished  sailors.  The  fishermen  of  Maine  and  Mas 
sachusetts  have  hastened  by  thousands  to  the  support  of 
the  government.  The  principal  force  of  the  North,  the 
navy,  has  been  thus  re-created  with  marvellous  rapidity. 

The  North — that  country  of  the  dollar  !  has  been  no 
less  prodigal  of  its  money  than  its  men.  In  a  few  weeks, 
the  patriotic  donations  reached  the  sum  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  million  francs.  The  merchant  princes  of  New 
York  distinguished  themselves  by  their  liberality  ;  at  the 
same  time  that  they  sent  their  clerks  to  the  armies,  say 
ing  to  them,  "  AVe  will  take  care  of  your  families,"  they 
sent  to  the  State  offerings  of  ten  thousand,  twenty  thou 
sand,  fifty  thousand  dollars.  And  societies  acted  as  largely 
as  individuals ;  the  Pacific  Steamship  Company  made  a 
donation  of  one  of  its  best  ships,  and  offered  all  the  rest  at 
a  price  to  be  fixed  by  three  naval  officers,  two  of  whom 
should  be  appointed  by  the  government.  Note,  that  the 
citizens  who  acted  thus  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
Massachusetts,  Illinois,  Ohio,  and  elsewhere,  had  just  lost 
a  thousand  millions  by  the  repudiation  of  Southern  debts, 
and  were  about  to  lose  double  the  sum  by  the  effect  of  the 
commercial  crisis.  The  individualism  with  which  men 
affect  to  reproach  America,  does  not  seem  to  prevent  the 
national  unity  from  manifesting  itself  there  with  energy. 

This  enthusiasm  could  not  come  forth  in  the  Border 
States — each  of  them,  in  proportion  to  the  influence  ex 
ercised  over  it  by  the  interests  of  slavery,  has  shown  itself 
disposed  to  practice  between  the  North  and  the  South  a 
policy  of  isolation.  This  has  been  one  of  the  great  dangers 
of  the  United  States,  and  one  of  the  best  chances  of  the 
rebellion.  If  the  thought  which  for  a  moment  took  form 


TIIE    SOUTH    WILL    NOT    BE    CONQUERED.  273 

in  Kentucky  had  attained  its  realization,  if  the  neutrality  of 
the  Border  States  had  been  accepted,  a  sort  of  intermedi 
ate  confederation  would  have  been  thus  formed,  a  verita 
ble  rampart  destined  to  protect  the  South.  The  govern 
ment  at  Washington  would  perhaps  have  been  struck 
powerless  on  the  day  that  it  should  have  encountered  be 
fore  it  a  so-called  friendly  coalition,  which  would  have 
permitted  entrance  into  its  territory  to  neither  army,  which 
would  have  naturally  set  itself  up  as  an  arbiter,  and  armed 
mediator,  threatening  to  pass  over  entire  from  the  side 
of  those  who  should  not  welcome  its  overtures. 

Mi\  Lincoln  did  not  tolerate  for  a  moment  this  equivo 
cal  attitude,  for  which  justice  should  be  rendered  him. 
At  the  risk  of  transforming  into  adversaries  those  who 
still  presented  themselves  as  friends,  he  declared  ch  arly 
that  neutrals  would  be  enemies  in  his  sight.  And  firmness 
has  borne  here  its  usual  fruits;  to-day,  the  Bonier  States, 
with  Kentucky  at  their  head,  have  declared  themselves 
for  the  Union;  their  regiments  are  combating  the  South, 
the  national  vanguard  against  the  insurrection  is  formed 
by  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Delaware,  Maryland,  a  part  of 
Virginia,  North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee. 

The  territories  also  have  remained  faithful.  As  to  the 
Indians,  this  miserable,  too  much  extolled  people,  whose 
barbarous  customs  would  not  easily  consent  to  dispense 
with  slavery,  have  been  tempted  to  range  themselves  on 
the  side  of  the  South,  which  may  count  perhaps  on  their 
seal  ping-knives.  Nevertheless,  as  on  the  other  side,  the 
Indians  cling  to  the  pensions  which  are  paid  them  from 
the  treasury,  it  is  probable  that  they  will  pause  in  time 
and  wheel  about,  especially  in  case  of  the  success  of  the 
North. 

This  success,  it  is  said,  depends  on  the  army.     Now, 


274  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

the  national  army  is  inferior  in  all  points  to  the  insurrec 
tional  army ;  a  dense  crowd  which  is  neither  instructed 
nor  organized,  nor  disciplined,  nor  commanded,  is  not  an 
army,  and  will  not  go  through  a  campaign ! 

It  remains  to  be  known  whether  the  Northern  troops 
still  merit  the  jeers  which  men  have  so  long  persisted  in 
lavishing  upon  them.  Nothing  is  easier  than  to  jeer, 
than  to  see  the  ridiculous  side  which  is  often  presented 
by  great  things.  But  in  full  justice,  is  there  reason  to 
laugh  so  much  at  soldiers  who,  in  equal  numbers,  have 
almost  always  beaten  those  of  the  South  ? 

It  is  true  that  they  have  often  found  themselves  in 
ferior  in  numbers.  The  unskilfulness  of  the  leaders  seems 
to  have  resolved  the  problem  of  always  having  the  most 
troops  at  their  disposal,  and  always  bringing  the  least  into 
the  field. 

Herein  was  displayed  for  a  time  the  military  inferior 
ity  of  the  North.  Taken  individually,  the  soldiers  were 
worth  something;  the  officers  were  worth  nothing  in  the 
beginning.  The  officers  of  the  regular  army  belonged 
for  the  most  part  to  the  South,  and  had  proffered  it  their 
services.  There  wrere  in  the  South  neither  companies 
formed  by  contract,  nor  proprietor-colonels — poor  colonels 
forced  to  ask  pardon  for  their  inexperience,  and  lacking 
authority  over  their  troops.  The  social  distinctions  ex 
isting  in  the  South  in  themselves  facilitated  command ; 
rich  planters  enforce  obedience  more  easily  than  mer 
chants,  lawyers,  and  members  of  Congress. 

These  were  the  calamities  of  the  beginning.  To-day, 
all  is  indeed  changed.  Incapable  men  have  been  thrown 
aside,  the  rest  have  learned  their  trade.  The  soldiers,  on 
their  side,  bear  no  resemblance  to  those  of  a  year  ago. 
There  is  no  more  insubordination,  as  then,  no  more  of 
those  acts  of  lack  of  discipline  which,  two  or  three  times, 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       275 

assumed  alarming  proportions.  Obedience  is  perfect,  the 
great  army  of  the  Potomac,  removed  from  "Washington, 
where  it  was  becoming  corrupted,  and  living  in  barracks, 
presents  one  of  the  most  remarkable  phenomena  of  our 
times.  The  three  months'  volunteers  have  disappeared, 
and  volunteers  in  earnest  have  taken  their  place.  Volun 
teers  !  Is  it  not  already  something  to  see  immense  armies 
in  which  not  a  single  man  figures  contrary  to  his  own 
will  ? 

The  armies  arc  almost  entirely  American ;  the  Irish 
element,  the  German  element,  most  valuable,  moreover, 
form  therein  but  a  comparatively  small  part.  The  sale 
of  spirituous  liquors  has  been  forbidden,  and  this  with  the 
approbation  of  the  soldiers  themselves.  The  most  of  them 
.send  to  their  lathers,  mothers,  wives,  brothers,  and  sisters 
from  half  to  two-thirds  of  their  pay.  Tlie  letters  ad 
dressed  to  relatives  amount  to  an  incredible  number.  We 
feel  that  the  family  ties  preserve  their  full  force.  These 
armies  resemble  no  others,  and  what  finally  characterizes 
them  is  that  in  every  regiment,  prayer  meetings,  presided 
over  by  the  officers,  indicate  the  forcible  action  of  a  mo 
tive  power,  the  strength  of  which  we  Europeans  can 
scarcely  comprehend.* 

These  soldiers  bear  themselves  valiantly  on  the  field 
of  battle.  We  are  greatly  mistaken  if  we  suppose  the 
Americans  of  the  North  unfit  for  the  vocation  of  arms. 
Far  from  it,  their  temper  is  thoroughly  warlike;  they 

*  It  is  necessary  here  to  render  justice  to  the  Germans;  not  only  have 
they  furnished  admirable  regiments  and  officers  of  the  highest  merit,  but 
they  have  heroically  accepted,  in  the  service  of  the  pood  cause,  the 
calamities  which  have  burst  upon  their  families  in  Missouri  and  else 
where.  Their  houses  sacked,  their  little  farms  burned  by  secession  neigh 
bors,  bear  testimony  to  the  sacrifices  which  they  have  made  without 
hesitation. 


276  EUROPE    AXD   THE    AMERICAN    CRISIS. 

have  something  of  the  ardor  of  the  French  and  the  solidity 
of  the  English.  It  is  said  that  General  McDowell  has 
cavalry  regiments  which  excite  the  admiration  of  foreign 
officers  themselves. 

The  men  who  now  make  part  of  the  army  are  strong, 
courageous,  and  intelligent ;  they  have  attended  the  pub 
lic  schools;  they  have  a  full  knowledge  of  the  principles 
at  stake  in  the  present  struggle ;  they  have  enlisted 
through  the  feeling  of  duty.  This  is  true,  above  all,  of  the 
soldiers  from  New  England.  Nevertheless,  the  enlist 
ments,  except  perhaps  those  from  a  few  large  cities,  have 
in  general  procured  choice  men. 

Far  from  fearin^  that  they  will  remain  unfit  for  the 

O  •• 

vocation  of  arms,  I  fear  much  more  that  they  will  become 
soldiers  in  good  earnest.  I  should  pity  America  on  the 
day  that  she  should  cease  to  merit  our  sarcasms.  Happy 
citizens  of  the  New  World,  who  do  not  slaughter  each 
other  as  gallantly  as  we,  who  do  not  know  so  well  how 
to  drill  and  charge  in  double-quick  time!  I  desire,  for 
my  part,  that  there  may  remain  some  corner  of  the  globe 
•where  there  shall  be  neither  great  armies,  nor  great  fleets, 
nor  great  budgets,  where,  to  enter  upon  a  war  shall  appear 
a  difficult  enterprise,  where  this  enterprise  shall  be  under 
taken  slowly  and  unskilfully,  where  bulletins,  deploring  the 
deatli  of  two  hundred  men,  shall  afford  a  subject  of  laughter. 
As,  moreover,  the  Americans  do  not  fear  danger,  as 
their  pioneers  of  the  West  run  as  many  risks  as  our  sol 
diers,  it  is  not  in  question  for  them  to  give  proof  of  it. 
Let  them  not  give  too  much  now,  I  entreat  them !  May 
they  ere  long  unlearn  what  they  are  forced  to  learn  to 
day!  If  they  do  not  unlearn  it,  it  will  be  all  over  with 
the  United  States  which  we  have  known,  and  the  day 
that  the  liberty  of  the  blacks  shall  be  proclaimed,  the 
liberty  of  the  whites  wTill  suffer  a  cruel  diminution. 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       277 

Resolved  as  I  am  to  maintain  my  position  in  the  region 
of  general  considerations,  without  entering  upon  the  re 
cital  of  lacts,  I  leave  military  events  aside.  I  cannot 
refrain,  however,  from  saying  a  few  words  of  the  passage 
at  arms  which  served  so  long,  and  still  serves,  to  demon 
strate  in  Europe  that  the  definitive  victory  of  the  North 
is  impossible. 

Its  first  reverses  astonished  no  one  who  gave  them 
the  least  reflection.  Inexperienced  soldiers,  commanded 
by  no  less  inexperienced  officers,  acting  in  the  enemy's 
country,  marching  at  random  through  wooded  solitudes 
where  bodies  could  with  difficulty  keep  up  communication, 
attacking  a  studied  and  fortified  position  on  which  Beau- 
regard  had  fallen  back  in  all  haste,  and  where  it  had  been 
his  constant  desire  to  make  himself  attacked,  the  urging, 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  war,  and  the  advice  of  General 
Scott,  the  insane  point  exacted  by  the  passions  of  certain 
journals,  the  men  of  the  North  could  not  but  be  foiled. 

Every  thing  contributed  to  their  defeat — Patterson 
did  not  come  up,  while  Johnson,  on  the  contrary,  brought 
decisive  aid  to  Beauregard;  a  panic  broke  out  after  a 
prolonged  combat.  There  is  nothing  in  all  this  to  surprise 
us.  Entered  upon  in  such  conditions,  the  battle  was  lost 
in  advance.  Far  from  accusing,  as  some  have  dared  to  do, 
the  cowardice  of  the  soldiers  of  General  McDowell,  we 
should  on  the  contrary  admire  the  tenacity  with  which 
these  raw  recruits  struggled  a  whole  day  against  batteries, 
against  a  ready  prepared  position,  against  superior  nuin 
bers  of  the  enemy.  The  number  of  their  dead  and 
wounded,  a  considerable  number  (for  an  American  battle, 
be  it  understood,  and  for  the  effective  force  engaged), 
proves  that  they  fought,  and  fought  well.  The  panic  oc 
curred  when  it  was  learned  that  Beauregard  had  received 
an  immense  reenforcement,  and  that  the  reenforcement 


278  ERRORS  CREDITED  IX  EUROPE. 

expected  by  McDowell  had  failed.  Then,  as  usual,  the 
drivers  of  the  baggage- wagons  gave  the  alarm,  and  the 
flight  took  place.*  Beauregard  dared  not  follow  in  pur 
suit  ;  which  was  perhaps  the  most  salient  and  most  sig 
nificant  fact  of  the  day. 

If  Bull  Run  had  no  military  consequences,  it  had  po- 
tical  ones.  In  the  first  place,  it  taught  the  Xorth  that 
the  war  was  a  thing  in  earnest,  and  that  the  journey  to 
Richmond  was  not  a  matter  of  mere  sport.  It  next 
taught  it,  that  the  plans  of  a  campaign  should  be  made  in 
the  closet  of  the  commander-in-chief,  and  not  in  the 
offices  of  influential  journals.  Mr.  Lincoln  has  learned 
what  a  fault  he  committed  in  yielding  to  the  cry  of  pub 
lic  opinion,  and  forcing  the  action  of  General  Scott. 
Lastly,  the  United  States  have  also  learned  one  tiling — 
that  they  were  proof  against  dei'eat,  which,  far  from  stag 
gering  them,  raised  their  patriotism  anew. 

Their  attitude  after  Bull  Run  has  never  been  suffi 
ciently  remarked.  There  was  a  firmness  in  it  which  was 
worth  more  than  victory,  and  which  must  bring  it  sooner 
or  later.  Congress  was  in  session  at  the  time  ;  it  neither 
humiliated  itself,  nor  gave  way  to  agitation  ;  it  lent  its 
ear  to  no  dishonorable  proposition  ;  thoughts  of  negotia 
tion  or  compromise  were  put  aside  more  resolutely  than 
ever. 

It  is  much  less  in  the  hour  of  triumph  than  of  reverses, 
that  energetic  peoples  are  recognized.  The  United  States 
accepted  their  defeat  openly,  manfully,  in  the  English 
manner.  Instead  of  losing  their  time  in  disguising  or  ex 
plaining,  they  occupied  themselves  at  once  with  repair 
ing  it.  They  went  back  to  the  causes,  recognized  the 
error  committed,  felt  the  necessity  of  forming  an  army, 

*  Since  Bull  Run,  the  Northern  armies  have  many  times  given  proof 
of  heroic  bravery,  and  the  Southern  armies  have  had  their  panics. 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       279 

and  set  about  the  work  without  delay.  Xever  had  volun 
teers  poured  in  more  eagerly  and  in  greater  numbers  ; 
McClcllan  was  charged  with  converting  them  into  sol 
diers,  and  it  was  admitted  that  this  would  need  time. 
Thenceforth  commenced  that  period  of  systematic  immo 
bility,  which  has  been  derided  among  us,  for  want  of 
having  wished  to  comprehend  it.  The  great  army  was 
set  apart,  the  staff  offices  were  purged,  habits  of  disci 
pline  were  created,  camp  manners  appeared,  they  waited 
on  the  Potomac  until  Beauregard  should  take  the  resolu 
tion  to  make  an  attack  in  turn. 

lie  took  care  not  to  come  in  collision  with  a  chosen 
and  fortified  position  ;  this  would  have  been  to  furnish  in 
his  turn  a  Bull  Run  to  the  Northern  soldiers.  Beaurogard 
therefore  remained  at  home,  in  his  position,  constantly 
hoping  that  the  Xorth  would  be  guilty  a  second  time  of 
the  folly  of  seeking  him  there. 

But  the  lesson  has  been  a  good  one.  The  original 
plan  has  reappeared.  To  act  with  patience,  to  wait,  to 
make  ready,  to  leave  the  blockade  to  take  effect ;  then, 
by  degrees,  to  tighten  the  meshes  of  the  net,  to  launch 
the  great  Mississippi  expedition,  to  reach  Virginia  through 
Tennessee  and  by  water,  to  throw  down,  perhaps,  by 
menacing  them  in  the  rear,  the  renowned  lines  of  Manas- 
sas  ;  perhaps  also  to  deal  elsewhere  than  in  Virginia,  in 
the  regions  of  the  "West,  decisive  blows  which  must  crush 

O  ' 

the  insurrection. 

We  may  speak  of  this  plan,  for  its  general  features  are 
a  secret  to  no  one,  while  it  may  be  infinitely  modified  in 
application.  Even  now,  the  Mississippi  gunboats  are 
ready.  The  battle  of  Somerset,  the  impression  which 
these  events  have  made  upon  Beauregard,  forced  to  watch 
over  the  defence  of  his  left  flank,  the  expedition  of  Gene 
ral  Burnside,  arriving  on  the  other  flank  of  the  great 


280  ERRORS    CREDITED   IN   EUROPE. 

Southern  army,  all  announce  that  nothing  has  been  lost 
by  waiting.  It  was  necessary  to  have  an  army  ;  this  is 
now  ready,  and  it  is  probable  that  we  shall  not  be  long  in 
hearing  great  news. 

The  intervention  of  the  navy  was  necessary,  moreover, 
to  the  execution  of  the  plan  of  General  Scott,  faithfully 
maintained  by  his  successor.  Now,  the  North  had  no 
more  navy  than  army.  The  point  in  question  was,  to  im, 
proviso  a  fleet ;  this  has  been  done,  and  it  is  not  the  least 
merit  of  the  Government  at  Washington.  The  fleet  will 
be  called  on  to  play  a  much  more  important  part  in  the 
struggle  than  has  seemed  to  be  hitherto  believed.  This 
is  doubtless  the  side  on  which  the  superiority  of  the  North 
wdll  be  manifested. 

If  the  materiel  of  the  navy  was  lacking  last  year,  the 
personnel  was  likewise  deteriorated  by  the  withdrawal 
of  a  great  number  of  officers,  natives  of  the  South.  As 
to  the  sailors,  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  remark  that  they  all 
remained  at  their  post. 

The  South  endeavored  to  make  up  for  the  weakness 
of  its  naval  resources  by  issuing  letters  of  marque.  Thanks 
to  it,  we  have  again  seen  privateers.  This  odious  custom 
of  private  war,  war  as  a  speculation,  justly  abolished  by 
the  treaty  of  Paris,  amid  the  applause  of  Europe,  has  been 
a  moment  resuscitated  by  the  defenders  of  slavery.  Bad 
causes  call  to  each  other  and  strike  hands. 

It  is  useless  to  add  that  the  privateers  have  succumbed 
one  by  one  before  the  American  cruisers.  The  two  last, 
the  Sumter  and  the  Nashville,  no  longer  daring  to  navigate 
the  waters  of  the  New  World,  have  come  to  till  our  shores 
with  consternation  by  their  facile  and  lamentable  exploits. 
A  cry  is  now  arising  against  this  maritime  brigandage ; 
our  ports  are  asking  with  anxiety  how  much  longer  the 


TIIE    SOUTH    "SVLLL    NOT    BE    CONQUERED. 

privilege  will  be  maintained  for  the  benefit  of  the  South 
of  stopping  ships,  without  bringing  them  before  any  tri 
bunal,  and  burning  them  on  the  high  seas. 

The  question  would  have  been  long  since  resolved,  had 
Europe,  less  ingenious  in  creating  belligerents,  accepted 
Mr.  Lincoln's  assent  to  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of 
Paris.  I  recall  this  fact  for  the  honor  of  principles;  for 
the  privateers  will  have  no  appreciable  influence  over  the 
solution  of  the  struggle  iii  which  the  United  States  are 
engaged. 

Once  more,  I  predict  nothing,  I  am  sure  of  nothing; 
it  maybe  that  the  Xorth  will  <lill  have  disasters  and  great 
disasters  to  endure  ;  it  may  be  that  the  plan  of  its  gen 
erals  will  fail,  or  be  considerably  modified.  The  perils  <»f 
a  Southern  campaign  are  greater  perhaps  than  is  supposed 
at  first  sight  ;  the  heat,  the  difficulty  of  communication, 
the  imperfection  of  the  commissariat,  are  all  obstacles 
which  will  not  be  easily  surmounted.  On  the  other  side, 
I  am  tempted  to  believe  that  the  attacks  by  sea,  and 
those  of  the  Mississipi  flotilla,  offer  serious  chances  of  suc 
cess.  Therein  will  be  displayed  those  still  unknown  re 
sources  of  the  modern  mind  which,  above  all  in  an  inven 
tive  country  like  America,  may  produce  important  results. 
But  these  things  have  nothing  to  do  with  this  study, 
designed  to  evolve  on  all  points  the  permanent  and  in 
some  sort  philosophic  side  of  the  struggle.  Whatever 
may  happen,  I  shall  not  have  been  less  right  in  establish 
ing  that,  in  announcing  to  Europe  the  probable  triumph 
of  the  South,  there  has  been  propagated  among  us  a 
gross  and  very  dangerous  error. 

I  have  sought  to  prove  nothing  beside.  I  know  more 
over  wherein  lies  the  great  difficulty — it  is  in  their  finan 
ces.  War  at  present  is  so  costly  (above  all,  war  as  they 


282  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

make  it)  that  exhaustion  quickly  takes  place.  There  is 
therefore,  outside  all  European  intervention,  a  power 
which  will  impose  peace  within  a  given  time,  unless  the 
reduction  of  the  South  be  promptly  completed. 

Although  I  admit  this,  I  must  protest,  notwithstand 
ing,  against  the  inconceivable  exaggerations  which  have 
found  means  of  going  forth  on  this  point.  The  United 
States  are  not  at  present  a  ruined  country,  feeling  the 
approach  of  bankruptcy  and  about  to  cease  paying  its 
soldiers.  The  attitude  of  American  funds  has  not  been 
bad  since  the  beginning  of  the  conflict.  Considerable 
loans  are  made  with  facility ;  the  banks  of  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  and  Boston  have  taken  up  the  first  issues, 
and  a  large  part  has  gone  into  the  hands  of  private  indi 
viduals.* 

Official  reports  prove  that  from  1860  to  1861,  the 
diminution  of  the  importation  of  merchandise  w^as  sixty- 
six  million  dollars,  while  the  diminution  of  the  exportation 
amounted  to  a  hundred  and  thirty-eight  millions ;  but  this 
diminution  is  explained  by  the  absence  of  cotton  ;  there 
has  been  in  this  single  article  at  least  a  difference  reaching 
a  hundred  and  fifty-seven  millions.  The  other  exports, 
therefore,  are  far  from  having  diminished.  It  is  a  remark 
able  fact  that,  with  its  sole  productions,  the  North  has 
been  able  to  pay  for  all  its  imports,  and  thus  be  sufficient 
unto  itself.  In  any  case,  it  has  suffered  little  hitherto ; 
plenty  reigns  in  its  fields,  and  the  ranks  of  agriculture  are 
open  to  offer  a  refuge  to  the  laborers  whom  manufactures 
leave  without  employ. 

The  position  is  by  no  means  very  unfavorable.  The 
activity  of  the  American  ports,  sustained  until  the  winter  by 

*  At  the  time  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  inauguration,  the  United  States  sir 
per  cents  stood  at  92£;  they  are  now  at  92.  The  last  advices  from 
London  prove  that  confidence  is  reviving  in  England. 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  XOT  BE  COXQUEEED.       283 

the  enormous  exportation  of  grain,  has  since  given  place, 
it  cannot  be  denied,  to  a  state  of  comparative  stagnation. 
The  clearances,  and,  above  all,  the  arrivals  of  vessels  have 
greatly  diminished,  immigration  has  fallen  off ;  neverthe 
less,  this  falling  off  has  been  less  than  had  been  supposed 
in  advance,  and  the  sales  of  public  lands  have  not  sensibly 
decreased.  In  I860,  forty  thousand  new  farms,  averaging 
forty  acres,  were  set  off:  for  the  year  of  a  crisis,  this  was 
not  bad.  With  the  exception  of  the  cotton  mills,  which 
are  closed,  or  have  reduced  their  hours  of  labor,  the 
greater  part  of  the  manufactories  are  in  activity ;  the 
shops  are  full,  and  business  does  not  stand  still  ;  the  bus 
tle  of  the  railroads  has  not  abated  ;  the  funds  of  the  Sav 
ings  Banks  are  intact ;  lastly,  as  I  have  said,  the  agricul 
tural  prosperity  remains  complete,  and  we  cannot  dis 
cover  in  the  North  any  sign  of  that  discontent,  discomfort, 
and  disorder,  which  announces  that  a  country  will  succumb 
ere  long  in  its  task. 

The  only  alarming  symptom  which  appears  is  the  bill 
which,  it  is  said,  is  about  to  authorize  the  issue  of  treasury 
bonds,  which  will  not  be  redeemable  in  specie  until  after 
the  war.  Leaving  aside  the  exaggerations  which  have 
gone  forth  on  the  subject,  persuaded  that  Congress  will 
take  care  to  prescribe  the  payment  of  the  interest  of  the 
debt  in  coin,  and  that  it  will  regard  it  as  a  duty  at  onco 
to  establish  new  taxes  designed  to  provide  for  this  in 
terest,  I  shall  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  a  plank  for 
assignats  has  been  just  manufactured  at  Washington. 
Notwithstanding,  while  recognizing  the  facilities  which 
the  forced  circulation  of  treasury  bonds  will  give  to  com 
mercial  relations,  while  recognizing  that  the  suspension 
of  payments  announced  by  individual  banks  may  call  for 
the  introduction  of  a  uniform  national  currency,  I  must 
13 


284  ERRORS    CREDITED   IN    EUROPE. 

point  out  how   baleful  in  itself  is  the  principle  of  the 
forced  circulation  of  notes. 

This  principle  is  baleful,  because  it  is  too  convenient 
of  application.  In  the  presence  of  great  public  needs,  the 
temptation  of  multiplying  the  creation  of  treasury  bonds 
becomes  difficult  to  surmount.  With  the  suspension  of 
specie  payments,  we  quickly  succeed  in  forming  all  sorts 
of  illusions  ;  we  always  begin  by  resolving  to  limit  the 
quantity ;  we  imagine  that  we  will  make  energetic  efforts 
by-and-by  to  effect  their  redemption  ;  then,  recoiling  be 
fore  the  increased  prodigiousness  of  the  enterprise,  we 
end  by  stammering  the  too  common  words  :  "  Necessity 
has  no  law."  On  that  day  we  renounce  the  fulfilment 
of  our  engagements,  we  become  guilty  of  robbery. 

God  forbid  the  supposition  that  America  will  come  to 
this !  But,  in  order  that  she  may  not  come  to  it,  she  must 
pause  at  the  first  step  in  the  dangerous  road  which  she  has 
just  entered.  Now  that  she  is  no  longer  subject  to  the  yoke 
of  the  South  and  its  theories  of  repudiation,  she  is  bound 
to  show  the  respect  which  she  has  for  herself,  and  the 
determination  which  she  has  taken,  under  no  pretext,  to 
violate  the  laws  of  justice.  By  imposing  on  herself  new 
taxes,  and  thus  securing,  by  an  honest  and  courageous 
effort,  the  payment  of  her  war  loans,  she  will  win  univer 
sal  esteem.  Let  her  leave  to  Jefferson  Davis,  accustomed 
of  old  to  these  proceedings,  the  monopoly  of  irredeema 
ble  paper  currency. 

It  is  a  financial  axiom  that  the  representative  value 
of  money  represents  in  reality  just  as  much  as  it  will  bring 
in  exchange.  I  am  well  aware  that  between  the  paper 
currency  of  the  North  and  that  of  the  South,  there  isj 
always  this  difference,  that  the  final  redemption  of  the' 
latter  is  as  improbable  as  its  success  ;*  but  this  is  not 

*  The  Southern  bonds  have  already  fallen  to  less  than  half  their 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       285 

enough.  A  great  country  like  America  cannot  be  allow 
ed  to  descend,  even  for  a  moment,  to  the  rank  of  those 
debtors  who  live  by  expedients,  and  pay  their  creditors 
with  mere  promises.  The  first  duty,  the  strict  duty, 
always  consists  in  securing  by  taxation  the  effective  pay 
ment  of  expenses  and  the  interest  of  the  debt.  Now, 
wherever  this  effective  payment  is  secured  by  taxation, 
paper  currency  not  redeemable  by  specie  cannot  long 
seem  indispensable. 

And  let  it  not  be  said :  "  France  and  England  have 
done  the  same  !"  If  one  wished  to  imitate  all  our  follies, 
he  would  go  a  great  way.  We,  Frenchmen,  after  our 
assiynats  have  had  our  tiers  consolide,  I  recall  it  with  a 
blush  of  shame.  England  has  not  gone  so  far  as  bank 
ruptcy  ;  her  specie  payments,  suspended  for  twenty  years, 
from  1797  to  1817,  have  been  resumed  without  imposing 
the  slightest  loss  on  her  creditors.  But  who  would  dare 
count  on  a  like  success  ? 

Nothing  is  so  tempting  and  dangerous  as  a  violation 
of  principles  which  has  involved  no  visible  catastrophe  in 
its  train  ;  it  is  a  bad  example  which  continues  to  act  for 
centuries.  Since  the  forced  circulation  of  one  pound 
notes  aided  to  overthrow  Napoleon,  irredeemable  paper 
currency  has  been  dreamed  of  everywhere.  Let  America 
beware !  Although  the  measure  may  succeed,  although 
it  may  be  far  from  resembling  an  immediate  bankruptcy, 
or  bringing  about  a  future  bankruptcy,  although  very 
brief  crises  like  this  may  seem  peculiarly  appropriate  to  an 
experiment  of  the  kind,  nevertheless,  the  peril  is  real. 
It  would  be  a  great  misfortune  to  be  able  to  incur  heavy 
expenses,  without  having  to  suffer  for  them  on  the  spot. 

nominal  value,  even  in  exchange  for  the  greatly  depreciated  paper  cur 
rency  of  the  insurgent  government. 


286  ERRORS    CREDITED    IX    EUROPE. 

This  correspondence  between  the  direct  weight  of  the 
taxes  and  the  expenses  of  the  war  constitutes  the  sole 
guarantee  against  certain  extravagances.  Now  I  am 
forced  to  say  that  the  present  expenditure  of  the  war  of 
the  United  States,  this  expenditure  of  two  million  dollars 
a  day,  almost  resembles  an  extravagance.  I  do  not  pre 
tend  that  the  United  States,  should  they  soon  reach  the 
end  of  their  crisis,  must  find  themselves  crushed  beneath 
a  debt  disproportioned  to  their  resources.  No  more  do 
I  pretend  that  there  may  not  be  some  good  reasons  for 
establishing  the  pay  of  American  volunteers  on  the  ex 
pensive  footing  which  we  cannot  succeed  in  comprehend 
ing  in  Europe,  so  far  distant  is  it  from  our  habits.  Not 
withstanding,  it  must  be  granted  that  too  little  regard  has 
been  had  for  the  financial  equilibrium. 

I  recognize  but  one  superiority  in  the  South,  but  that 
is  a  real  one — a  portion  of  its  troops  serve  without  pay. 
It  does  honor  to  the  soldiers  who  fight  in  this  manner, 
without  exacting  any  thing  but  their  support.  It  con 
stitutes,  besides,  an  enormous  saving. 

The  North,  being  much  richer,  has  acted  rightly  in 
paying  its  volunteers,  and  even  in  taking  account,  in  fix 
ing  their  pay,  of  the  national  habits  and  the  needs  of 
families,  to  whom  the  pay  in  general  is  sent.  Neverthe 
less,  there  are  bounds  which,  it  seems  to  me,  should  not 
be  overstepped.  I  will  not  mention  the  twenty-five  mil 
lions  devoted,  it  is  said,  to  the  support  of  an  army  of 
musicians ;  this  sum  will  be  doubtless  reduced.  But  to 
give  thirteen  dollars  a  month  to  soldiers  maintained 
luxuriously,  and  to  whom  premiums  and  lands  are  prom 
ised  besides  when  the  war  is  over,  is  really  too  much. 
All  of  our  European  states  would  become  bankrupt,  if 
they  were  forced  to  pay  their  armies  at  this  rate.  Note, 
moreover,  that  Switzerland,  which  also  has  none  but  citi- 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       287 

zens,  heads  of  families,  snatched  from  their  occupations, 
in  the  ranks  of  her  militia,  pays  them  barely  a  few  pence 
a  day,  which  lias  always  been  enough  for  them. 

This  would  not  be  enough  in  America  ;  granted.  The 
prolonged  service  of  soldiers  cannot  be  compared  to  the 
momentary  service  of  militia ;  that  is  true.  I  will  even 
admit  readily  that  the  excessively  small  pay  of  soldiers 
has  the  deplorable  result  of  rendering  possible  the  crea 
tion  of  large  armies.  In  this  respect,  the  American  sys 
tem  has  its  uses ;  so  long  as  it  is  maintained,  it  will  throw 
an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  standing  armies  and  long  wars. 
In  the  present  struggle,  this  war,  which  appears  to  us 
extravagant,  is  perhaps  destined  to  fulfil  a  providential 
mission.  Who  knows  whether  it  will  not  be  the  means 
of  abridging  the  struggle  ?  It  is  impossible  to  continue 
long  at  the  rate  of  ten  million  francs  a  day.  It  is  impos 
sible,  on  one  condition,  notwithstanding,  and  this  brings 
me  back  to  the  principal  subject  of  my  remarks,  on  con 
dition  that  the  ten  millions  per  day  be  really  levied  on 
the  American  people,  or  at  least  that  the  interest  of  the 
loans  contracted  for  it  be  furnished  by  taxes.  The  sus 
pension  of  specie  payments  often  ends  in  suppressing 
or  weakening  this  condition,  it  permits  one  to  spend 
largely  and  pay  little ;  it  is  for  this,  for  this  above  all, 
that  I  denounce  it  to  the  patriotism  of  the  Americans. 

There  is  still  another  argument  employed  by  those 
who  wish  to  prove  to  us  that  the  North  cannot  win.  They 
oppose  to  the  superiority  of  the  eminent  men  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  rebellion,  the  pretended  mediocrity  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  ministers.  Mr.  Davis  and  the  mem 
bers  of  the  Richmond  cabinet,  after  having  passed  their 
lives  in  counseling  or  dictating  the  follies  of  which  Europe 
has  unceasingly  complained,  have  suddenly  become  per- 


288  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

sonages  of  the  highest  distinction.  As  to  the  leaders  of 
the  American  Government,  there  are  not  disdainful  ex 
pressions  enough  to  paint  their  insufficiency. 

Pardon  me  for  being  of  an  entirely  different  opinion. 
I  shall  wait  for  better  proofs  of  the  incapacity  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  before  permitting  myself  to  treat  with  slight  re 
spect  the  man  who  personifies  in  himself  so  great  a 
cause. 

Opposition  and  criticism  are  natural  to  the  heart  of 
man,  democracies  in  particular  are  not  sparing  of  them; 
let  Americans,  notwithstanding,  take  care — if  they  cease 
to  respect  their  government,  they  will  furnish  weapons 
with  their  own  hands  to  their  enemies. 

I  do  not  see,  besides,  that  Mr.  Lincoln  has  hitherto 
fallen  short  in  his  task,  assuredly  one  of  the  hardest  that 
could  be  encountered  here  below.  He  is  not  skilful  in 
drawing  up  messages,  I  admit ;  he  is  somewhat  devoid  of 
that  personal  ascendancy,  that  author itatireness  which 
facilitates  the  action  of  the  government ;  he  has  made  a 
few  mistakes  ;  he  might  have  more  vividly  depicted  the 
principle  of  which  he  was  the  representative,  and,  without 
renouncing  a  legitimate  prudence,  have  adopted  an  atti 
tude  better  suited  to  rally  the  sympathies  of  Europe.  But 
how  many  good  qualities  by  the  side  of  these  trifling 
faults!  If  he  has  been  lacking  in  brilliancy,  what  a 
compensation  has  he  found  in  his  good  sense  and 
integrity  ! 

It  is  already  something,  yes,  a  great  deal,  to  have  a 
president  who  is  an  honest  man;  an  honest  man  is  a 
power  as  times  go. 

It  is  something  also  to  have  a  president  who  knows 
what  he  wants,  who  has  known  it  from  the  beginning,  and 
who  has  had  the  merit  of  maintaining,  through  incidents, 
the  unity  of  his  policy.  What  he  begun  at  the  first 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NOT    BE    CONQUERED.  289 

momc'Mt,  lie  has  not  since  ceased  to  pursue — he  has  not 
ceased  to  purpose  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  he  has 
protested  against  the  title  of  belligerent,  he  has  refused  to 
welcome  any  idea  of  amicable  separation.  With  a  sang 
froid  which  has  never  been  contradicted,  he  has  defended 
his  programme,  his  ministers*  and  his  generals.  His 
firmness,  which  is  not  devoid  of  acuteness,  has  triumphed 
I  over  the  difficulties,  as  enormous  as  unexpected,  which 
have  come  to  him  from  Europe;  and  has  none  the  less 
triumphed  over  difficulties  from  within  Through  him, 
unanimity  has  been  maintained,  the  ordeal  of  defeats  has 
been  surmounted,  good  order  has  been  preserved,  revolu 
tionary  measures  have  been  turned  aside  from  the  strug 
gle.  The  surety  of  his  judgment  will  strike  attentive 
minds  in  the  end.  The  man  who  has  succeeded  during 
the  past  year  in  conjuring  down,  without  ever  abasing 
himself,  the  dangers  of  a  foreign  war,  the  man  who,  put 
ting  aside  with  a  conciliatory  hand  the  exactions  of  ex 
treme  parties,  and  postponing  irritating  questions,  has 
nevertheless  insured  the  onward  march  of  abolition — this 
man  is  not  as  commonplace  as  some  would  have  us 
believe. 

If  I  speak  before  all  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  it  is  not  that  I 

*  A  fact  very  honorable  to  Mr.  Seward,  dating  back  to  last  Decem 
ber,  should  be  recorded  here.  A  club  having  been  formed  in  Philadelphia, 
with  the  design  of  paving  the  way  for  his  election  to  the  next  Presidency, 
Mr.  Seward  wrote  to  them  that  he  had  taken  the  immovable  resolution  to 
decline  to  become  a  candidate.  "  I  have  entered  into  the  government," 
said  he,  "  to  aid  in  saving  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  or  to  perish 
with  them.  It  has  seemed  to  me,  therefore,  that  I  ought  to  renounce  all 
chance  of  personal  advantage,  in  order  that  the  counsels  which  I  may 
give  the  president  during  this  crisis,  may  not  only  be  disinterested, 
loyal,  and  patriotic,  but  may  also  seem  so." — A  great  deal  is  said  of  the 
political  corruption  of  American  statesmen  ;  I  wish  that  the  statesmen 
of  Europe  might  never  be  more  corrupt  than  Mr.  Seward. 


290  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

forget  those  by  whom  he  has  been  seconded,  particularly 
Mr.  Seward.  Their  administration  has  obtained  the  re 
sult  that,  even  at  the  moment  when  the  military  superi 
ority  went  over  to  the  South,  the  political  superiority  re 
mained  with  the  North.  The  Trent  affair  will  not  be 
useless  to  its  renown  in  Europe.  The  diplomatic  cor 
respondence  of  Mr.  Seward  announces  something  else 
than  incapacity.  The  government  which,  before  having 
any  suspicion  of  the  English  menaces,  wrote  the  despatch 
of  November  30,  and  suppressed  even  the  mention  of  the 
Trent  affair  in  the  President's  Message,  could  prove  later, 
with  a  just  sentiment  of  pride,  that,  in  yielding  to  the  re 
clamations  of  England,  it  secured  the  triumph  of  Ameri 
can  principles. 

This  sometimes  painful  collision  with  Europe,  these 
external  difficulties  of  the  crisis  have  evidently  formed 
the  statesmen  at  Washington.  Their  progress  is  visible. 
There  is  a  rare  comprehension  of  his  position  in  the  cour 
teous  liberality  of  which  Mr.  Seward  has  given  proof  for 
some  time  past.  He  no  longer  gives  offence,  he  replies  to 
remarks  by  loyal  explanations,  he  unhesitatingly  gives  a 
favorable  solution  to  all  secondary  questions,  he  speaks  of 
England  in  affectionate  terms,  he  spontaneously  opens  to 
the  English  troops  a  passage  through  the  State  of  Maine. 

This  is  what  I  call  good  policy.  Let  the  American 
cabinet  join  to  it  a  more  energetic  watchfulness  over  the 
finances,  and  we  shall  no  longer  have  for  it  anything  but 
praise.  Independently  of  excessive  expenses  and  the 
dangerous  principle  of  the  forced  circulation  of  paper, 
there  is  shameful  waste  which  calls  for  unsparing  suppres 
sion.  Whoever  is  capable  of  despoiling  the  country  in 
circumstances  like  these,  ought  to  expect  no  indulgence. 
Disorder  at  this  time  is  treason.  Such  as  has  been  just 
pointed  out  by  honorable  members  of  Congress,  Messrs. 


THE    SOUTH    WILL   NOT   BE   CONQUERED.  291 

Hall,  Davies,  and  others,  would  arouse  a  sentiment  of 
indignation  in  any  country.  To  put  an  end  to  prodigality 
is  to-day  the  first  duty  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  ministers. 

The  bearing  of  the  nation  has  been  no  less  remarkable 
than  that  of  the  government.  Great  cities,  full  of  unem 
ployed  workmen,  have  had  neither  coalitions  nor  riots. 
Mob  violence  has  figured  as  yet  only  in  the  prophecies  of 
the  friends  of  the  South.  The  Trent  affair  has  brought 
out  the  energetic  qualities  of  the  American  people ;  in 
spite  of  a  few  inevitable  manifestations,  the  vast  majority 
did  not  cease  to  preserve  its  calmness  and  follow  Mr. 
Lincoln  without  hesitation.  Who  did  not  at  that  time 
admire  old  General  Scott,  who  did  not  hesitate,  despite 
his  infirmities,  to  brave  a  new  voyage  in  order  to  place 
his  faithful  sword  at  the  service  of  his  country  ?  I  ac 
knowledge  that  Captain  Wilkes  himself  appeared  to  me 
worthy  of  sympathy,  when,  recounting  the  conscientious 
perplexities  through  which  he  had  passed,  placing  the 
interests  of  his  country  and  justice  before  his  own,  he 
thus  concludes  his  report :  "  Having  acted  upon  my  own 
responsibility,  I  am  ready  to  endure  the  consequences." 

The  same  patriotism  has  not  ceased  to  animate  both 
houses  of  Congress.  I  have  followed  their  debates  with 
some  attention  ;  and  not  only  have  I  been  struck  with 
the  talent  for  discussion  which  is  displayed  there,  but  I 
have  admired  the  almost  universal  sentiment  which  has 
led  all  these  men  to  divest  themselves  of  the  traditions 
of  party  spirit,  and  rally  around  the  flag  of  the  LTnion, 
which  is  also  that  of  liberty. 

It  would  be  necessary  now  to  place  opposite  this  faith 
ful  portrait  of  the  United  States,  a  no  less  faithful  repre. 
sentation  of  the  position  of  the  slave  States.     I  shall  not 
13* 


292  ERRORS    CREDITED    IX    EUROPE. 

attempt  it ;  I  distrust  the  documents  published  by  the 
Union  journals.  There  are,  notwithstanding,  some  points 
that  I  can  verify,  for  my  information  will  be  borrowed 
from  the  Southern  journals  themselves. 

Whoever  has  read  the  recent  articles  of  the  Richmond 
Enquirer,  Richmond  Mercury,  and  Memphis  Argus, 
knows  on  what  to  rely  concerning  the  pretended  unanim-. 
ity  of  the  South.  The  discontent  there  goes  on  increas 
ing,  and  without  yet  admitting  that  riots  have  occurred 
at  the  cry :  "  Hurrah  for  the  Union  I "  it  must  be  granted, 
in  truth,  that  internal  writhings  have  commenced.  A 
distinction  is  beginning  to  be  made  between  "  the  cause  " 
and  parties.  Discouraging  descriptions  are  given  of  the 
demoralization  which  is  pervading  the  great  army  of  Vir 
ginia  ;  the  recent  abandonment  of  Europe  is  verified  ; 
lastly,  it  is  exclaimed :  "  For  a  long  time,  we  have  heard 

it  said  that  England  would  fight  for  us We 

see  the  chances  of  peace  receding  through  the  miraculous 
increase  of  the  Northern  army  and  navy.  Our  armies 
and  families  are  destitute  of  every  thing.  On  regarding 
the  future,  we  ask  ourselves  why  every  thing  wears  so 
dark  an  aspect." 

What  shall  we  add  to  this  language  of  the  Argus  ? 
Is  it  necessary  to  tell  what  are  the  paper  moneys  of  the 
South,  the  loans  of  the  South,  the  finances  of  the  South  ? 
As  to  the  state  of  agriculture  and  commerce  in  the  South, 
I  shall  not  proceed  to  prove,  after  so  many  others,  that 
negroes  have  no  longer  but  a  nominal  price,  that  the  cot 
ton  crop  is  disappearing,  that  credit  and  labor  are  equally 
lacking;  I  shall  content  myself  with  quoting  this  signifi 
cant  sentence  from  the  New  Orleans  Picayune,  which 
certainly  cannot  be  suspected  of  Unionism :  "  A  mower 
might  find  wherewith  to  earn  his  livelihood  from  the  grass 
that  is  growing  in  some  of  our  streets." 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       293 

I  might  have  rendered  infinitely  more  complete  this 
study  of  the  respective  forces  at  the  disposal  of  the  Xorth 
and  South.  The  prosperity  of  the  first  reposes  on  bases 
which  the  war  has  not  succeeded  in  shaking  for  a  single 
instant.  Whoever  has  taken  the  trouble  to  examine  that 
mighty  system  of  railroads  and  canals  which  goes  inland 
more  than  two  thousand  miles  to  seek  the  inexhaustible 
harvests  of  the  West,  whoever  knows  the  new  works,  pur 
sued  in  spite  of  the  crisis,  which  are  to  bring  the  Mississipi 
and  its  tributaries  as  it  were  to  the  harbor  of  New  York, 
must  have  formed  an  idea  of  the  resources  of  the  Xorth. 
The  Xorth  has  sufficed  for  itself  during  the  war  ;  it  has 
not  bent  beneath  the  burden.  Its  commercial  activity, 
for  an  instant  slackened,  seems  ready  to  revive  before 
long.  Its  irredeemable  paper  currency  is  only  subjected 
to  a  discount  of  one,  two,  or  at  most  four  per  cent,  in  ex 
change  for  silver;  while  we,  in  1848,  saw  our  irredeema 
ble  paper  subjected  to  a  discount  of  eight  per  cent. 

Things  are  different  in  the  South.  At  the  first  rumor 
of  the  defeats  of  the  insurrection,  it  was  proposed  to  burn 
the  cotton  and  tobacco  !  Xow,  who  does  not  remember 
that,  on  issuing  its  bonds,  the  Southern  treasury  gave  this 
same  cotton  and  tobacco  as  the  guarantee  of  their  value. 
It  is,  therefore,  the  very  guarantee  of  these  unlucky  bonda 
that  there  is  question  now  of  destroying. 

This,  doubtless,  will  not  be  done;  but  the  simple  com 
parison  which  I  have  just  indicated,  permits  us  to  lay  our 
finger  on  the  financial  distress  of  the  Richmond  govern 
ment.  These,  in  reality  are  "  paper  rags.v  and  nothing 
else. 

Let  us  remark  besides,  that  the  time  for  planting  has 
come.  What  shall  be  planted  in  the  South  ?  It  is  a 
formidable,  distressing  question  which  is  passionately  dis 
cussed  from  one  end  to  the  other  of  the  slave  States.  If 


294  ERRORS  CREDITED  IN  EUROPE. 

the  war  is  to  last,  it  will  be  necessary  to  sow  wheat,  to 
give  up  cotton,  and  to  accept  a  system  of  culture  which 
will  shake  slavery  to  its  foundation,  since  it  will  secure  to 
the  negroes  long  months  of  idleness.  If,  on  the  contrary, 
cotton  be  sown,  then  this  will  be  to  say,  in  passably  clear 
terms,  that  there  is  no  longer  thought  of  continuing  the 
war. 

Many  other  signs  beside  have  shown  already  that  the 
continuance  of  the  war  will  not  be  easy.  The  demorali 
zation  of  the  Southern  armies  has  taken  the  most  alarming 
character ;  the  habits  of  drunkenness  there  have  acquired 
such  proportions,  that  both  the  government  and  the  press 
are  forced  now  to  undertake  a  campaign  against  whiskey. 
It  is  affirmed  that  Virginia  is  covered  with  distilleries 
by  the  mere  fact  of  the  presence  of  Beauregard's  troops 
upon  its  soil ;  the  same  scourge  has  appeared  in  the  train 
of  Southern  regiments  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee. 

Such  is  the  position.  The  reader  himself  will  resolve 
the  question  which  of  the  two  adversaries  is  better  pre 
pared  for  decisive  struggles,  which  is  more  in  a  condition 
to  wait. 

And  I  do  not  need  to  anticipatate  events,  to  suppose 
the  rapid  increase  of  the  victories  of  the  North,  the  rapid 
development  of  discontent  and  disorganization  in  the 
South.  No,  taking  things  as  they  are  at  the  moment 
when  these  pages  are  traced,  it  is  from  this  time  certain 
that  Jeiferson  Davis,  despite  his  rare  assurance,  will  have 
difficulty  in  long  maintaining  the  fabulous  assertions  of 
his  last  Message.  Of  the  two  documents  published  at  the 
same  time  by  Mr.  Lincoln  and  Davis,  at  the  moment  of 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Trent  affair,  Europe  will  fully 
comprehend  which  expressed  the  truth. 

If  I  had  to  seek  a  new  proof  in  support  of  a  demon- 


THE  SOUTH  WILL  NOT  BE  CONQUERED.       295 

stration  which  I  believe  complete,  I  would  show  the  per 
severing  patience  with  which  the  North  puts  aside  the 
use  of  a  violent  means  which  it  has  at  its  disposal.  It  is 
no  small  honor  for  it  to  have  rejected  the  aid  of  slave 
insurrections. 

That  these  insurrections  are  possible,  alas  !  cannot  be 
doubted,  and  I  can  scarcely  conceive  how  the  South, 
which  ought  to  remember  what  has  passed  within  its 
borders,  can  carry  folly  and  injustice  so  far  as  to  provoke 
the  North  to  this  point.  But  the  North,  I  hope,  will 
maintain  its  noble  attitude,  despite  provocations.  We 
are  no  longer  in  1812;  General  Jackson  could  then  call 
to  arms  the  colored  men  of  New  Orleans  without  pro 
pounding  a  formidable  problem ;  to-day,  it  would  be 
quite  different,  and  if  ever  the  negroes  be  armed,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  nothing  can  limit  the  consequences  of 
this  act. 

Better  a  slow  than  a  polluted  victory !  Slowness,  I 
know,  is  the  great  reproach  which  is  cast  upon  the  Unit 
ed  States.  We  live  in  an  age  of  steam  ;  and  when  a  crisis, 
however  colossal  it  may  be,  is  not  terminated  in  a  few 
months,  our  patience  becomes  exhausted.  It  is  something, 
notwithstanding,  to  raise  to  six  hundred  and  sixty  thou 
sand  men  an  army  that  numbered  sixteen  thousand  in 
the  beginning,  and  to  raise  to  two  thousand  six  hundred 
guns  a  fleet  that  at  first  numbered  five  hundred  and  fifty. 
It  was  necessary  to  create  armament,  service,  and  adminis 
tration  ;  it  was  necessary  to  form  staff  officers  and  to  intro 
duce  discipline.  To  dissipate  the  chaos  which  was  found 
after  Bull  Run,  to  make  a  great  army  in  a  country  where 
one  had  never  been  seen,  and  of  which  trained  officers 
themselves  knew  nothing  except  by  books — this  is  a  work 
for  which  a  few  months  might  be  well  accorded  to  Gen 
eral  McClellan.  As  to  the  naval  improvisation,  it  has 


296  ERRORS    CREDITED    IN    EUROPE. 

been  prodigious  in  all  points ;  of  these  vessels,  of  these 
gunboats,  not  a  keel  had  been  laid  on  the  stocks  at  the 
advent  of  Mr.  Lincoln ;  now,  the  most  difficult  blockade 
that  has  ever  existed  is  maintained  with  an  efficiency 
which  Europe  has  ceased  to  dispute,  and  a  formidable 
flotilla  is  preparing  to  descend  the  Mississipi. 

The  slowness  of  the  North  has  been  its  greatest  pro 
gress  ;  it  is  a  lasting  triumph  won  over  the  impatience 
which  has  once  already  forced  the  action  of  the  president, 
and  procured  to  the  country  the  defeat  of  Bull  Run.  To 
endure  epigrams  is  no  easy  task.  I  have  read  pointed 
articles,  each  paragraph  ending  with,  "  Spend  two  mil 
lion  dollars  a  day,  and  do  nothing."  More  courage 
has  been  needed  to  do  nothing,  than  would  have  been 
needed  to  commit  a  new  folly.  Happily,  General 
McClcllan,  to  whom  all  in  America  do  not  render  suffi 
cient  justice,  and  whom  an  ultra  party  implacably  pur 
sues,  has  been  found  capable  of  that  patriotic  temporiza- 
tion  which  the  Americans  have  styled,  with  irony,  perhaps, 
a  masterly  inactivity. 

Be  sure  of  it,  Beauregard  would  have  rather  the  ser 
vice  of  an  attack  had  been  rendered  him ;  in  his  own 
mind,  he  has  appreciated  at  their  true  value  the  calcula 
ted  delays  of  his  adversary.  Now  the  North,  which  has 
chosen  its  time,  will  also  choose  its  place  and  manner  ;  if 
the  decisive  action,  of  which  I  know  nothing,  take  place 
in  Virginia,  it  is  probable  at  least  that  it  will  take  place 
in  new  conditions.  Morally,  politically,  militarily,  the 
North  has  henceforth  a  decided  superiority ;  the  time 
of  surprises  is  past,  and  the  chances  of  the  insurgents 
have  become  almost  as  bad  as  their  cause. 

This  is  the  conclusion  to  which  we  are  brought  by  the 
impartial  study  of  the  elements  which  compose  the  North 


THE    SOUTH    WILL    NOT    BE    C'ONQUEBED.  297 

and  South.  A  more  decisive  conclusion  would  perhaps 
have  greater  success  ;  but  I  am  resolved  to  remain  what 
I  have  sought  to  be  from  the  beginning — very  firm  in  my 
principles,  very  circumspect  in  my  previsions. 

It  is  not  improbable  that  the  fate  of  the  war  will  be 
fixed  before  long,  and  that,  notwithstanding,  the  war  itself 
will  be  prolonged.  The  sultry  season  is  approaching,  and 
the  campaign  in  the  South  will  be  less  easy.  This  vast 
country,  thinly  peopled,  intersected  by  morasses,  is  but 
too  well  suited  to  a  guerilla  warfare. 

On  the  other  hand,  Europe  is  still  ruled,  and  much 
more  than  is  imagined,  by  the  prejudices  which  I  have 
just  combated.  If  the  awaking  of  liberal  and  Christian 
public  opinion  among  Englishmen,  an  awaking  which 
preceded,  let  it  be  said  to  their  honor,  the  news  of  the 
Northern  successes,  oppose  a  powerful  obstacle  to  the 
return  of  the  egotistical  policy,  this  policy  is  not  there 
fore  wholly  dead.  Doubtless,  at  the  present  moment, 
there  is  no  longer  question  of  developing  the  consequen 
ces  which  the  term  belligerent  comprised  within  itself,* 
or  of  protesting  against  the  stone  blockade  of  Southern 
ports  ;f  nevertheless,  men  have  not  in  the  least  renounced 
the  desire,  the  hope  of  a  final  separation.  The  creation 
of  two  Americas  remains  the  ideal  of  many,  and  who 

*  Matters  have  been  carried  so  far  as  to  sound  the  Government  at 
Richmond  to  know  whether  it  would  be  disposed  to  assent  to  the  Treaty 
of  Paris.  The  despatches  of  its  Commissioners  have  been  printed  for 
Parliament,  precisely  like  those  of  the  American  minister,  Mr.  Adams. 

f  There  is  a  sandbank  near  Savannah,  for  the  removal  of  which  Con 
gress  voted  at  Washington,  in  1853,  a  sum  of  forty  thousand  dollars,  on 
the  report  of  a  committe  of  engineers.  Whence  came  this  sandbank  ? 
From  ships  sunk  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  by  order  of  the  com 
mander  of  the  English  troops,  to  block  up  the  entrance  to  the  river.  If 
the  sinking  of  ships  constitute  an  enormity  without  parallel,  it  must  be 
confessed  that  it  is  not  without  precedent. 


298  ERRORS    CREDITED   IX   EUROPE. 

knows  whether,  under  certain  given  circumstances,  they 
might  not  be  tempted  to  give  it  a  little  aid? 

Let  us  not  hasten,  therefore,  beyond  measure  to  pro 
claim  the  triumph  of  the  Union.  According  to  all  appear 
ances,  we  have  still  before  us  grave  difficulties  to  sur 
mount  on  both  shores  of  the  Atlantic. 

We  will  surmount  them,  with  the  help  of  God.  It 
seems  to  me  that,  after  having  gone  through  the  preced 
ing,  the  reader  must  arrive  with  me  at  a  two-fold  convic 
tion — first,  that  the  work  is  far  from  being  finished  ;  sec 
ondly,  that  the  most  difficult  part  is  accomplished,  and 
that  what  America  has  just  done  is  a  guarantee  of  what 
she  will  do. 


PART    FOURTH. 

THE    INTEKESTS   OF   EUROPE    IN 
AMERICA. 


CHAPTER    I. 

EUROPE     IN     AMERICA. 

ARRIVED  at  this  point  of  our  study,  a  question  presents 
itself  to  us,  or  rather  forces  itself  upon  our  notice ;  that 
of  the  general  interests  of  Europe  in  America.  It  is  not 
my  intention  to  dwell  upon  it  long,  but  I  do  not  wish  to 
shun  it.  It  seems  to  me  easy  to  tell  without  many  words 
what  is  our  natural  policy  in  the  New  World  ;  little  is 
needed  for  it,  except  to  draw  the  logical  deductions  of 
the  principles  which  we  have  just  established. 

The  whole  problem  of  our  policy  in  America  is  bound 
up  in  the  problem  of  our  policy  in  regard  to  the  United 
States.  Every  thing  is  connected  to  such  a  degree  with 
the  United  States,  that  their  power  barely  shaken,  there 
is  not  a  single  American  country,  we  may  say,  that  does 
not  appear  to  be  open  to  European  intervention 


300  EUROPE   IN    AMERICA. 

I  know  some  who  conclude  from  this,  that  the  weak 
ening  of  the  United  States  is  desirable.  "  See  how  trouble 
some  this  immense  republic  is  becoming,"  they  say, 
"which  has  not  ceased  to  increase  for  the  last  eighty 
years,  whose  annexations  have  been  perpetual,  which 
would  not  have  been  long  in  swallowing  up  Mexico,  which 
attracts  to  itself  a  current  of  continual  immigration.  Be 
ginning  with  three  or  four  million  inhabitants,  it  has 
already  reached  more  than  thirty  million,  and  this  popu 
lation,  which  doubles  regularly  every  twenty  years,  may 
attain  proportions  threatening  to  our  repose.  It  closes 
the  New  World  to  us ;  it  will  not  be  long  in  mixing  in 
the  affairs  of  the  Old.  Is  it  not  time  to  check  this  pro 
digious  aggrandizement?  What  we  ought  to  wish  is 
that,  instead  of  the  United  States,  there  may  be  two  rival 
confederacies  to  watch  over  each  other,  and  produce  a 
balance  of  power." 

Suppose  that  this  end  be  attained  without  going  fur 
ther,  that  the  separation  of  the  South  brings  no  other  in  its 
train,  that  this  be  not  the  beginning  of  veritable  dissolu 
tion  ;  suppose,  also,  that  the  South  become  an  independent 
State,  and  not  the  dependent,  the  protege  of  such  or  such 
a  power,  the  gate  by  which  Europe  will  enter  without 
ceasing  into  the-  internal  broils  of  America  ;  yes,  suppos 
ing  this,  let  us  ask  ourselves  whether,  even  in  this  hy 
pothesis,  most  difficult  to  realize,  the  lasting  interests  of 
Europe  will  have  been  served  or  injured  by  the  cause 
which  it  is  recommended  us  to  pursue. 

One  thing  at  least  must  be  admitted — as  far  as  France 
in  particular  is  concerned,  the  weakening  of  the  United 
States  is  by  no  means  in  conformity  with  her  traditions. 
France  aided  in  the  foundation  of  the  United  States.  By 
the  cession  of  Louisiana,  which  at  that  time  comprised  a 


INTERESTS    OF   EUROPE.  301 

considerable  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
from  which  several  States  have  been  carved  out,  France 
contributed  to  the  greatness  of  the  United  States.  And 
she  did  not  do  these  things  at  random ;  she  desired  them 
by  virtue  of  serious  motives  which,  hitherto,  have  not 
seemed  contestable. 

The  United  States  know  this  so  well,  that  they  count 
so  far  on  France  as  sometimes,  I  fear,  to  delude  them 
selves  in  this  respect.  I,  myself,  have  had  the  pleasure 
of  seeing  my  book  become  an  occasion  for  Americans  to 
render  homage  to  the  persevering  sympathies  of  my 
country. 

Why  have  these  sympathies  disappeared  ?  Is  this 
country  no  longer  the  same  where  French  swords  have 
always  been  drawn  for  a  cause  of  liberty  ?  Have  not 
Rochambeau,  Matthieu  Dumas,  and  La  Fayette,  fought 
there  with  glory  ?  lias  this  country  ever  figured  in  any 
of  the  coalitions  directed  against  us?  Has  not  its  neutral 
flag,  the  only  one  which  England  was  interested  in  re 
specting,  rendered  us  signal  service?  Doubtless,  the 
Xorth,  though  separated  from  the  South,  will  know  how 
to  maintain  the  honor  of  its  flag ;  nevertheless,  will  there 
not  be  an  epoch  of  transition,  during  which  the  guaran 
tees  of  our  commerce  in  the  East  will  be  found  dimin 
ished  ? 

As  to  the  inconveniencics  presented  by  the  ulterior 
aggrandizement  of  the  United  States,  they  cannot  succeed 
in  alarming  me.  The  policy  of  conquest  has  fallen  with 
the  preponderance  of  the  South.  Then,  would  it  be  such 
a  great  calamity,  if,  some  day,  when  the  United  States 
shall  have  solved  among  themselves  the  problem  of  aboli 
tion,  anarchical  countries  like  Mexico  should  fall  of  their 
own  accord  into  their  strong  hands  ?  Would  not  this 
solution  of  the  Mexican  question  be  as  good  as  any  other  ? 


302  EUROPE   IN   AMERICA. 

Would  it  not  comprise  the  progress  of  liberty,  the  Gospel, 
and  civilization?  Is  it  quite  sure  that  governments 
founded  by  distant  intervention  would  have  as  much 
solidity  and  hope  for  the  future  ? 

France,  I  think,  would  not  have  to  grieve  at  such  an 
event.  Why  should  she  grieve  more  at  another  event 
often  announced  with  a  feeling  of  dismay  which  I  am 
incapable  of  comprehending  ?  "  The  United  States,"  it  is 
exclaimed,  "  will  some  day  pretend  to  meddle  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Old  World,  and  to  figure  in  the  concert  of  great 
powers  !"  Well,  if  this  should  be,  what  reason  would  we 
have  to  put  on  mourning?  There  is  no  such  thing  as 
distance  to-day  ;  and  since  Europe  meddles  with  America, 
America  may  meddle  with  Europe.  The  solidarity  of 
interests  is  real ;  is  there  a  principle  in  opposition  to  that 
manifested  by  facts  ?  Is  it  quite  sure  that  the  concert  of 
great  powers  was  completed  in  ten  or  twenty  years, 
beyond  the  possibility  of  introducing  the  United  States 
therein  ?  Ought  policy  to  live  by  fictions,  or  to  seek 
realities  ? 

If  the  greatness  of  the  United  States  is  not  of  a  kind 
to  trouble  France,  it  can  no  more  disquiet  England. 

I  am  well  aware  that  I  here  encounter  prejudices  and 
traditions  which  contradict  my  theory.  It  seems,  at  first 
sight,  that  since  the  American  navy  may  be  useful  to  us, 
it  may,  by  logical  deduction,  be  injurious  to  the  English. 

I  do  not  deny  it ;  I  even  confess  that,  in  the  event  of 
separation,  the  protectorate  of  the  South  will  probably 
belong  to  Great  Britain  ;  according  to  all  appearances, 
an  agricultural  republic  will  be  formed  there,  wretched 
doubtless,  and  unceasingly  menaced ;  but  the  products  of 
which,  whatever  they  may  be,  will  be  at  the  disposal  of 
the  English. 


INTERESTS    OF   EUROPE.  303 

There  was  a  time  when  considerations  of  this  kind 
would  have  been  contradicted  by  no  one.  At  present,  in 
England  itself,  the  most  enlightened  men  take  a  higher 
stand-point.  Far  from  desiring  new  colonies  and  new 
protectorates,  they  urge  the  abandonment  or  progressive 
emancipation  of  the  old  ones.  As  to  the  marine,  they 
have  learned  to  comprehend  that  the  conditions  of  naval 
rivalry  are  not  at  all  what  they  were  at  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century.  Henceforth,  there  will  be  several 
great  navies;  France,  the  United  States,  Russia,  Italy, 
others  perhaps,  will  have  a  part  to  play  in  those  conflicts 
of  which  the  sea  may  become  the  theatre.  From  this 
time,  certain  pretensions  of  absolute  supremacy  fall  to  the 
rank  of  old  and  superannuated  theories ;  as  it  is  natural 
that  England  should  cling  to  maintaining  a  superiority 
which  is  her  security,  and  propose  to  have  twice  as  many 
vessels  as  any  other  nation,  so  is  it  impossible  that  she 
should  dream  of  the  absolute  empire  of  the  seas.  A  number 
of  great  navies  always  brings  coalitions  and  alliances;  it  is 
no  longer  a  question  for  the  English  to  remain  alone  and 
annihilate  all  that  does  not  belong  to  them  ;  the  question 
is  to  have  friends. 

Now,  viewed  from  this  stand-point,  the  greatness 
of  the  United  States  is  far  to-day  from  dismaying  intelli 
gent  Englishmen.  Lord  Stanley,  Mr.  Gladstone,  and 
many  others  with  them,  have  not  ceased  for  some  time  to 
declare  that  England  is  interested  as  much  and  more  than 
any  one  in  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States ;  far  from 
fearing  it,  she  should  consider  it  favorable  to  her  own. 
Permit  me  to  quote  the  expression  of  Mr.  Gladstone  : 
"  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying,  not  only  that  England 
has  nothing  to  dread  from  the  elevation  of  the  United 
States ;  but  also  that,  if  we  have  any  seltish  interest  in 


304  EUROPE   IN   AMERICA. 

the  matter,  it  is  that  of  seeing  the  American  Union  con 
tinue  to  subsist  without  disturbance." 

This  is  the  very  truth  ;  if  the  United  States,  in  a  cer 
tain  measure,  represent  to  France  maritime  equilibrium, 
they  represent  to  England  the  equilibrium  of  the  races. 
She  cannot  strike  New  York  without  striking  Liverpool. 
Any  weakening  of  the  United  States  would  be  the  weak 
ening  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  the  principle  which  they 
represent  here  below.  Mr.  Seward  lately  wrote  a  sentence 
of  great  meaning  :  "  What  is  to  the  advantage  of  Amer 
ica  is  always  to  the  advantage  of  England." 

But  it  is  necessary  here  that  our  point  of  view  be 
enlarged.  Let  us  leave  France  and  England,  and  consid 
er  the  interests  of  the  human  race.  Shall  we  drag  our 
selves  to  the  end  in  the  miry  and  narrow  paths  of  national 
selfishness,  artificial  equilibriums  and  antagonisms,  or 
enter,  instead,  the  royal  road  of  harmony?  • 

Among  the  discoveries  of  modern  policy,  none  strikes 
us  so  much  as  this — the  prosperity  of  all  is  of  importance 
to  all ;  it  is  not  true  that  one  profits  by  the  misfortunes  of 
his  neighbors  ;  no  people  is  interested  in  the  abasement  of 
another  people ;  there  is  on  earth  a  solidarity  of  suffering 
and  a  solidarity  of  progress. 

The  new  equilibrium  no  longer  results  from  the  op 
position  of  contrary  forces  which  neutralize  each  other 
by  their  antagonistic  efforts,  but  from  the  harmony  of 
friendly  forces,  which  serve  each  other  mutually.  Now, 
among  the  forces  which  should  thus  contribute  to  the 
common  advantage,  there  are  few  whose  preservation  is 
more  essential  than  that  of  the  free  and  individual  genius 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons. 

The  United  States  have  fulfilled,  from  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  a  providential  mission,  the  importance  of 


INTERESTS    OF   EUROPE.  305 

which  it  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate,  and  which  will 
some  day  form  a  chapter  by  itself  in  the  history  of  the 
migration  of  peoples.  At  the  north  of  that  America 
which  is  covered  in  great  part  by  nations  without  consist 
ency  or  true  liberty,  God  has  placed  a  strong  and  liberal 
people.  Over  the  vast  territory  which  it  occupies,  the 
waves  of  immigration  have  unceasingly  rolled,  all  taking 
the  stamp  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

Belonging  myself  to  the  Latin  race,  I  do  not  mean 
in  any  way  to  dispute  the  services  which  it  has  rendered, 
and  which  it  will  still  render  to  civilization.  It  personi 
fies  certain  things  in  itself,  also  great  and  important; 
unity,  order,  administration,  military  power,  tradition, 
lastly,  that  refined  brilliancy  of  literature  and  art  which 
belongs  to  a  classic  origin.  But,  what  is  the  use  of  dis 
guising  it  ? — our  tendency,  if  counterbalanced  by  noth 
ing  here  below,  would  lead  to  excessive  centralization,  to 
the  suppression  of  the  individual.  We  need,  for  our  own 
good,  to  encounter  in  our  path  that  altogether  different 
tendency  represented  by  Germany,  England,  and  the 
United  States.  The  Germanic  races  are  necessary  to  the 
Latin  races. 

These  races,  I  hope,  are  not  destined  to  combat,  but 
to  assist  and  complete  each  other.  Woe  to  those  whom 
a  no  less  odious  than  blind  policy  urges  on  to  a  fearful 
conflict !  I  have  seen  with  horror,  in  surveying  Italy, 
men  whose  ideal  appeared  to  be  the  future  formation  of 
a  league  of  the  Latin  peoples,  to  be  some  day  precipitated 
upon  the  Germanic  peoples.  Thank  God !  such  fancies 
will  never  be  welcomed  by  enlightened  minds  and  gener 
ous  hearts.  The  broad  policy,  the  broad  equilibrium,  will 
always  have  the  more  partisans.  For  the  safety  of  the 
modern  world,  the  extension  of  the  individualizing  race 
will  be  maintained  in  opposition  to  the  powerful  organiza 
tions  of  the  centralizing  race. 


CHAPTER  H. 

ATTEMPT   TO    REVIVE    OUE   OLD  COLONIAL   POLICY. 

IT  is  natural  that  the  old  policy  should  struggle 
against  the  new.  We  had  reason  to  expect,  therefore, 
the  reappearance  among  us  of  the  colonial  traditions  of 
another  age;  the  crisis  of  the  United  States  was  too 
favorable  an  occasion  for  them  not  to  attempt  to  profit 
by  it. 

What  were  these  ancient  traditions  ?  America  does 
not  exist  by  itself  and  for  itself;  Europe  should  exercise 
over  it  a  sort  of  paramount  power ;  she  should  play  the 
part  of  the  mother-country,  directing  dependent  colonies 
from  afar,  and  patronizing  minor  peoples. 

These  traditions  have  their  root  in  history ;  after  the 
discovery  of  America,  came  its  conquest.  Each  European 
state  had  a  sort  of  transoceanic  prolongation — there  was 
an  American  France,  an  American  England,  an  American 
Spain,  an  American  Portugal. 

This  was  a  provisory  and  unnatural  position,  destined 
to  cease  on  the  day  that  a  national  spirit  should  appear  in 
America.  The  English  America  was  first  ripe  for  inde 
pendence  ;  this  was  quite  natural — it  had  been  founded  by 
free  men.  In  detaching  itself  from  its  mother-country, 
it  set  an  example  which  could  not  fail  to  be  followed 


COLONIAL   POLICY.  307 

sooner  or  later  by  the  other  colonies.  We  know  what 
happened  toward  the  end  of  the  wars  of  the  empire ; 
declarations  of  independence  ran  like  a  train  of  powder 
from  the  table-lands  of  Mexico  to  the  furthest  cape  of 
Patagonia. 

Since  then,  the  colonial  system  has  been  maintained 
'only  at  a  few  isolated  points,  in  Canada  and  the  West 
India  islands.  How  long  these  last  colonies  will  endure, 
I  know  not.  I  will  only  say  that  they  are  daily  becom 
ing  more  independent — Canada  is  endowed  with  a  free 
government ;  the  emancipation  of  slaves  and  the  emanci 
pation  of  commerce  have  broken  the  heavy  chain  which 
bound  the  islands  to  the  mother-country,  except  Spain, 
which  remains  behind  according  to  custom.  Europe  shows 
itself  favorable  to  such  progress.  Metropolitan  patronage 
is  therefore  disappearing,  and  the  hand  of  the  Old  World 
is  withdrawn  from  the  New. 

All  was  thus  going  on  well,  and  the  colonial  mania 
seemed  near  becoming  extinct  when  the  crisis  of  the 
United  States  unhappily  came  to  give  it  new  life.  We 
witnessed  at  that  moment  a  recrudescence  of  old  passions 
and  covetousness.  In  the  present  weakening  and  possible 
dismemberment  of  the  United  States,  we  are  in  danger 
of  seeing  before  all  an  opportunity  to  resuscitate  the 
things  of  former  times,  to  bring  back  Europe  in  America, 
to  react  against  declarations  of  independence  and  founda 
tions  of  republics. 

Among  a  few  (I  mean  this  neither  for  the  French  nor 
the  English),  covetousness  has  been  awakened,  the  signal 
of  a  quarry  seems  to  have  been  heard. — Make  haste  ! 
there  may  be  but  an  hour :  we  must  make  the  most  of  it 
at  least !  Reactions,  counter  revolutions,  restorations — 
all  these  must  be  tried  ! 
14 


308  EUROPE   IN    AMERICA. 

Certainly,  in  point  of  restoration,  I  can  imagine  noth 
ing  more  gigantic  than  that  retaliation  for  Bolivar  which, 
for  a  moment  at  least,  has  been  dreamed  by  Spain.  Here 
are  Mexico,  Columbia,  Peru,  Chili,  for  aught  I  know ! 
To  re-create  a  European,  and  in  some  sort  colonial  Amer 
ica  would  be  no  small  task.  Let  no  one  deceive  himself, 
moreover;  the  complete  destruction  of  the  United  States 
is  the  condition  sine  qua  non  of  this  work  ;  so  long  as 
there  shall  be  a  genuine  American  Government,  it  will 
not  endure  with  a  tranquil  heart  the  denationalization  of 
the  ISTew  World.  It  may  bow  its  head,  through  necessity, 
for  a  moment ;  but  it  will  await  its  time  and  find  it. 

I  am  not  the  one  to  approve,  without  restriction,  of  that 
exclusive  Americanism  by  virtue  of  which  all  contact  with 
Europe  should  be  avoided.  As  I  have  already  said,  the 
modern  facility  of  communication  has  rendered  isolation 
impossible.  Our  age  does  not  allow  it  to  Japan  ;  it  will 
not  allow  it  to  the  Americans.  There  will  henceforth  be 
a  general  policy  in  a  sense  of  which  our  fathers  knew 
nothing ;  Americans  will  do  wrong  to  be  offended  if  we 
meddle  to  a  certain  point  in  their  affairs,  as  we  should  do 
wrong  to  be  terrified  if  they  should  meddle  in  ours. 
There  will  be  alliances  concluded,  combinations  arranged, 
influences  exercised  across  the  Atlantic;  let  every  one 
make  up  his  mind  to  it. 

But  aside  from  this  excess,  which  I  condemn,  it  is 
impossible  for  me  not  to  render  homage  to  the  Amer 
ican  spirit.  The  celebrated  doctrine  in  which  it  has 
found  its  formula,  the  Monroe  doctrine,  is  only  the  ex 
pression  of  a  simple  truth — Leave  America  to  Americans ! 
Why  may  not  America  have  its  ow^n  system  of  civilization, 
having  a  right  to  its  place  under  the  sun  ?  Why  deny 
this  nationality  ?  If  America  does  not  belong  to  herself; 
if  we  again  apply  ourselves  (I  hope  that  nothing  of  the 


COLONIAL   POLICY.  309 

sort  will  be  done)  to  cutting  her  np  into  colonies,  pro 
tected  countries,  second-hand  governments  ;  if  our  Euro 
pean  intrigues  introduce  themselves  there  through  the 
fissures  that  may  be  made  by  her  internal  troubles  and 
civil  wars,  it  will  be  a  great  misfortune  to  her,  and  a  still 
greater  one  perhaps  to  us.  The  two  solemn  recognitions, 
that  of  1783  and  of  1824,  proclaimed  the  accomplishment 
of  progress,  the  emancipation  of  a  continent ;  it  would  be 
strange,  we  must  admit,  if,  to  retrace  such  progress,  we 
should  choose  the  precise  epoch,  whose  chief  political 
dogma  appears  to  be  the  principle  of  nationalities. 


CHAPTER   III. 

INFLUENCE     OF     SPAIN. 

I  HAVE  named  the  government  which  lately  urged 
this  reaction.  The  initiative  of  Spain  has  been  visible 
from  the  beginning.  Willing  or  unwilling,  with  a  hesita 
tion  which  does  them  honor,  France  and  England  have 
participated  in  the  movement,  with  the  hope,  perhaps,  of 
moderating  it.  A  purely  Spanish  restoration  in  Mexico 
is  what  they  had  no  wish  to  allow. 

Spain  has  for  some  time  given  signs  of  vitality  which 
I  will  not  affect  to  disregard.  Although  it  may  be  still 
far  from  that  undisputed  position,  which  classes  a  people 
among  the  great  powers,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  its 
recent  expeditions  to  Morocco  and  Cochin  China,  have 
given  it  a  certain  prestige. 

How  does  it  happen  that,  far  from  rejoicing,  the  gen 
eral  instinct  of  Europe  takes  alarm  at  this?  Because 
Europe  observes  and  remembers.  She  remembers  what 
Spain  has  been  in  history — a  violent,  oppressive  nation, 
hostile  to  all  progress,  as  to  all  liberty,  a  baleful  nation  in 
a  word,  in  the  full  force  of  the  expression ;  she  observes 
what  is  passing  in  modern  Europe,  without  succeeding  as 
yet  in  discovering  the  slightest  trace  of  that  liberalism 


INFLUENCE    OF    SPAIN.  311 

which  is  remarked  among  so  many  other  nations,  whether 
Catholic  or  Protestant.  The  possible  greatness  of  Spain 
lias  therefore  appeared  to  us  hitherto  as  a  calamity,  or  at 
least  a  menace. 

It  is  not  that  elevated  qualities  are  lacking  to  the 
Spanish  people ;  but  it  seems  to  have  been  slumbering  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  now  that  it  has  awakened,  it  is  still 
in  the  Middle  Ages;  its  habits,  its  sentiments,  its  am 
bitions,  are  three  or  four  centuries  behind  the  times.  One 
mi^ht  be  dismayed  for  less  cause. 


- 


I  seek  something  youthful,  something  modern  in 
Spain.  I  do  not  discover  it,  unless  this  modern  thing  be 
revolution.  Ah!  in  point  of  revolutions,  Spain  need 
envy  no  one  ;  but,  to  us,  who  do  not  confound  revolutions 
with  liberties,  this  malady,  supposing  it  modern,  is  an  in 
different  recommendation.  We  are  struck  with  conster 
nation  to  see  that  through  these  repeated  revolutions,  she 
has  not  found  the  means  of  inscribing  a  single  generous 
principle  upon  her  banner.  Within  her  borders,  political 
liberty  is  but  an  idle  word,  the  liberty  of  conscience  is 
openly  denied,  the  liberty  of  negroes  has  not  yet  found  a 
defender. 

There  are  two  courts  at  Madrid  ;  how  is  it  possible 
that  no  one  has  yet  denounced  there  the  infamies  of 
slavery,  and  the  still  greater  infamies  of  the  slave  trade? 
To  start  up  indignantly,  and  make  high-sounding  patriotic 
speeches  when  Lord  Palmerston  denounced  the  Spanish 
slave  trade,  was  very  well ;  to  suppress  it  would  be  better. 
Brazil  suppressed  it  when  it  really  wished  to  do  so.  In 
Cuba  even,  a.  captain-general  conscientiously  opposed  to  the 
slave  trave  has  sufficed  at  once  to  reduce  its  proportions. 
But  General  Yald6s  has  not  instituted  a  school;  the 
Cuban  slave  trade  has  troubled  no  consciences  either  at 


312  EUEOPE    IN    AMERICA. 

Havana  or  Madrid.  Thus  it  has  increased:  in  1858,  it 
imported  seventeen  thousand  negroes;  in  1859,  it  im 
ported  thirty  thousand;  in  1860,  fifty  thousand.  And  all 
this,  in  the  face  of  two  treaties  ;  that  of  1817,  in  which 
the  King  of  Spain  pledged  himself  to  abolish  the  traffic 
from  1820;  and  of  1835,  in  which  the  King  of  Spain 
accepted  for  this  object  four  hundred  thousand  pounds. 

What  took  place  but  the  other  day  on  the  West  Coast 
of  Africa  ?  A  small  ship,  the  Quail,  bearing  the  flag  of 
a  new  State,  Liberia,  stopped  a  slave  trader  off  Cape 
Gallinos,  bearing  the  old  flag  of  Spain — it  was  necessary 
to  avenge  such  an  insult !  A  Spanish  ship-of-war  entered 
the  port  of  Monrovia,  the  capital  of  the  republic  of  free 
negroes,  and  attacked  the  Quail;  but  met  with  so  warm 
a  reception  that  it  was  soon  compelled  to  return  to 
Fernando  Po,  in  order  to  repair  its  damages.  The 
affair  would  have  had  direful  results,  had  not  England 
intervened. 

I  have  mentioned  Fernando  Po.  It  is  there,  in  a 
deadly  climate,  in  a  colony  where  troops  can  remain  but 
a  short  time,  lodged  in  pontoons,  that  the  courts-martial^ 
sentencing  beyond  power  of  appeal,  have  sent  the  unhap 
py  peasants  of  Loja.  After  the  crushing  speeches  of  M. 
Olozaga  and  Marshal  Narvaez,  it  is  not  necessary,  doubt 
less,  to  show  what  has  been  the  nature  of  this  pitiless 
oppression. 

Another  fact  has  filled  the  conscience  of  Europe  with 
consternation.  Humble  Christians,  strangers  (it  has  been 
admitted)  to  all  political  intrigue,  for  the  sole  crime  of 
having  adopted  and  professed  the  Protestant  faith,  have 
been  condemned  to  the  punishment  of  the  galleys.  Who 
has  not  read  the  touching  letter  of  Matamoras  ?  "  My  deli 
cate  health  makes  my  penalty  one  of  death  to  me  ;  never- 


INFLUENCE   OF   SPAIN.  313 

theless,  had  I  not  one,  but  a  thousand  lives,  I  would 
sacrifice  them  all  with  Christian  tranquillity  upon  the 
altars  of  the  holy  cause  of  Jesus,  our  Divine  Redeemer." 
An  appeal  has  been  made  to  the  Queen.  I  cannot  for  an 
instant  doubt  her  decision.  But  how  long  will  Spaniards 
be  reduced  to  implore  as  a  grace,  the  first  of  all  rights, 
the  right  of  adoring  God  according  to  their  conscience  ? 

We  may  say  this,  we,  French  Protestants,  who  have 
not  ceased  to  denounce  the  Protestant  intolerance  of 
Sweden,  and  who  will  pursue  its  last  remains  until  a 
Christian  faith  shall  be  no  longer  insulted  by  protection. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

ST.    DOMINGO   AXD    MEXICO. 

IT  has  cost  me  much  to  write  the  preceding  pages;  in 
recalling  the  present  conduct  of  Spain,  I  have  been  forced 
to  reassure  myself  by  the  thought  that  the  noble  qualities 
of  its  people  will  not  be  long  in  prevailing;  that  political 
liberty,  the  liberty  of  slaves,  and  the  liberty  of  conscience 
will  find  generous  champions  in  its  bosom  ;  that  it  will 
turn  at  length  from  the  Middle  Ages  to  enter  into  the 
modern  world. 

In  the  meantime,  we  need  to  know  the  chief  instigator 
of  the  colonial  restoration,  to  appreciate  it  justly.  Spain 
has  already  taken  two  steps  toward  restoration  in  Amer 
ica — she  has  regained  possession  of  the  Spanish  portion 
of  St.  Domingo ;  and  has  obtained  that  Mexican  expedi 
tion  which  she  would  have  gladly  undertaken  alone,  and 
which  she  will  cease  perhaps  to  desire,  now  that  she  can 
not  undertake  it  by  herself  and  for  her  exclusive  interests. 

The  first  act  is  already  judged.  So  long  as  the  Unit 
ed  States  were  to  be  feared,  we  saw  no  desire  manifested 
in  St.  Domingo  to  overthrow  the  Dominican  Government 
and  recall  the  former  rulers;  from  the  very  moment 
when  it  was  believed  possible  to  offend  without  risk  a 


ST.    DOMINGO    AXD    MEXICO.  315 

power  transiently  enfeebled,  the  affection  for  Spain  re 
awakened  with  sudden  unanimity. 

It  is  true  that,  behind  this  pretended  unanimity,  we 
gain  a  glimpse  of  something  quite  different.  Scarcely 
had  the  Dominicans  surrendered  themselves  to  Spain, 
when  a  national  resistance  was  manifested,  which  it  be 
came  necessary  to  suppress  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 
After  the  battle,  came  the  executions.  General  Sanchez, 
and  nineteen  patriots  were  shot  the  same  day  in  the  city 
of  San  Juan. 

The  legitimate  government  being  thus  reestablished, 
it  was  lit  ting  to  make  the  negro  and  republican  govern 
ment  ofGeffrard  feel  that,  henceforth,  its  days  were  num 
bered.  A  fleet  was  despatched  to  impose  on  it,  within 
the  space  of  twenty-four  hours,  the  signature  of  the  follow 
ing  conditions — an  indemnity  of  a  hundred  thousand 
piastres  for  the  armed  resistance  to  which  President 
Geifrard  had  remained  a  stranger  ;  the  expulsion  of  all 
the  Dominican  refugees;  and  the  prohibition  of  any  dis 
cussion  of  the  Dominican  question  in  the  newspapers  of 
Hayti. 

If  the  Ilaytian  newspapers  are  condemned  to  silence, 
it  has  been  impossible  to  force  the  same  system  on  those 
of  Jamaica.  Immense  meetings  have  been  held  in  this 
island  to  denounce  the  act  of  violence  accomplished  at 
St.  Domingo.  Parliament  has  formally  stated  its  reser 
vations,  and  the  English  minister  has  held  a  language  on 
which  Spain  will  do  well  to  reflect.  I  advise  it  no  more 
to  lose  siirht  of  the  solemn  protest  which  the  United 
States  have  taken  care  to  address  to  it. 

In    order    to    tranquillize    English    opinion,    Marshal 

O'Donnel  lias  given  a  pledge  in  behalf  of  his  country,  not 

to  reestablish  slavery  in  St.  Domingo.     Will  this  pledge 

be  better  kept  than  that  given  with  respect  to  the  slave 

14* 


316  EUROPE    IN    AMERICA. 

trade  ?  I  should  doubt  it  strongly,  did  I  not  look  in  the 
direction  of  the  United  States.  There,  the  question  of 
slavery  is  being  resolved  at  this  moment,  not  only  for 
them,  but  for  Spain  and  Brazil.  As  soon  as  the  principle 
of  abolition  shall  have  been  decidedly  laid  down  by  the 
government  at  Washington,  it  must  necessarily  make  its 
way  at  Havana  and  Porto  Rico. 

It  is  thus  that  St.  Domingo  will  be  preserved.  As  to 
the  grandiloquent  phrases  which  are  inserted  in  the  pre 
amble  and  not  in  the  articles  of  the  decree  relative  to 
St.  Domingo,  I  do  not  imagine  that  they  will  oppose  an 
insurmountable  barrier,  should  certain  necessities  (such  is 
the  recognized  expression)  ever  arise,  should  the  slavery 
party  ever  become  turbulent  at  Cuba  or  St.  Domingo, 
should  planters  from  Cuba  or  Porto  Rico  come  to  St. 
Domingo  with  their  slaves.  The  president  of  the  council 
could  well  write  to  Madrid  :  "  The  inhabitants  are  free ;  sla 
very,  that  indispensable  plague  spot  of  the  other  colonies,  is 
in  no  wise  necessary  to  the  working  and  culture  of  this  fer 
tile  country,  and  your  Majesty's  government  can  never 
think  of  reestablishing  it  here."  What,  however,  would 
prevent  another  policy  from  being  adopted,  provided  that 
the  indispensable  plague  spot  of  the  other  colonies  should 
some  day  appear  no  less  indispensable  in  this  ? 

I  distrust  promises  of  liberty  founded  upon  reasons  of 
utility.  I  distrust,  because  I  remember.  Seizures  are 
always  accompanied  with  liberal  programmes  ;  the  Leclerc 
expedition,  which  went  to  reestablish  slavery  in  this  very 
St.  Domingo,  announced  its  determination  to  do  nothing 
of  the  sort.  When  the  rich  valleys  (so  badly  cultivated) 
of  this  great  island  demand  the  introduction  of  blacks, 
when  the  inhabitants  of  the  other  Spanish  colonies  come 
thither  accompanied  by  their  slaves,  I  doubt  whether  zeal 
will  be  carried  so  far  as  to  emancipate  the  latter.  My 


ST.    DOMINGO    AND    MEXICO.  317 

scepticism  on  this  point  equals  that  of  which  Lord  Brough 
am  gave  proof  in  the  House  of  Lords. 

The  Mexican  expedition  has  surprised  no  one  who 
comprehended  the  expedition  to  St.  Domingo.  It  was  in 
question  to  profit  by  the  embarrassment  of  the  United 
States,  and  as  speedily  as  possible  to  put  into  execution 
the  general  plan  of  American  restorations. 

I  say,  "it  was  in  question,"  because  affairs  have 
changed  greatly  during  a  few  weeks.  Our  good  sense 
which,  in  the  face  of  results,  has  quickly  seized  the  scope 
of  a  question,  indifferent  in  a  military  point  of  view,  of 
vast  importance  in  a  political  point  of  view ;  the  growing 
repugnance  of  public  opinion  in  England ;  the  sudden 
coolness  of  Spain  herself,  who  hoped  for  a  restoration, 
almost  a  conquest,  and  finds  herself  in  the  presence  of 
very  different  prospects ;  the  protests  of  the  United  States, 
the  better  listened  to  inasmuch  as  their  recent  successes 
may  bring  a  speedy  reestablishment  of  their  po\ver,  all 
seem  combined  to  oblige  us  to  render  the  expedition 
much  more  inoffensive  than  it  was  near  being  for  a  mo 
ment.  I  am  ignorant  whether  my  previsions  will  be  con 
firmed  by  the  event ;  but,  whether  they  be  or  not,  we 
are  bound  to  account  for  the  principle  by  virtue  of  which 
we  have  been  tempted  to  act.  We  do  not  fully  renounce 
errors,  until  we  know  why  we  renounce  them.  This 
feeble  desire  to  return  to  our  colonial  traditions,  and  to 
monarchical  restorations  in  the  New  World,  is  a  symptom 
so  serious,  that  we  should  fail  in  our  duty,  did  we  neg 
lect  to  study  it,  whatever  may  be,  moreover,  the  fate  of 
our  present  enterprise. 

Admitting  that  it  return  this  time  without  having 
effected  any  thing  else  than  a  treaty  with  President 
Juarez,  or  perhaps  a  rapid  dash  on  Mexico,  what  is  there 


318  EUROPE   IN    AMERICA. 

to  prevent  it  from  being  some  day  again  undertaken? 
Will  not  Spain  be  on  the  watch  for  a  better  opportunity  ? 
Will  its  dreams  of  counter-revolution  in  Mexico  sudden 
ly  cease?  Provided  that  the  embarrassment  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  be  prolonged,  will  not  the  captains-general  of 
Cuba  endeavor  to  obtain  in  the  ancient  American  vice- 
royalties,  the  same  kind  of  success  which  they  have  ob 
tained  at  St.  Domingo? 

I  contest  in  no  manner  our  right  to  chastise  an  unwor 
thy  government,  and  to  exact  the  reparation  due  our 
fellow-countrymen  ;  what  terrifies  me,  and  what  we  should 
keep  in  sight,  is  that  Spain,  in  the  illusion  of  her  first 
hopes,  may  impel  us  to  replace  reparation  by  intervention, 
which  is  quite  another  thing. 

Remark  that,  however  detestable  the  existing  anarchy 
of  Mexico  may  be,  it  is  perhaps  superior  in  more  than  one 
point  to  the  infamous  system  which  Spain  imposed  dur 
ing  three  centuries  on  these  magnificent  colonies.  With 
out  even  speaking  of  the  bloody  period  which  followed 
the  conquest,  taking  the  Spanish  administration  in  Mexico 
at  its  mildest  and  best  time,  what  a  spectacle  does  it  pre 
sent  to  us?  The  Indians  (that  is  to  say,  almost  the  entire 
population)  penned  up  in  their  villages  as  in  so  many 
ghettos,  the  mixed  breeds  held  as  vile,  and  classed  as  it 
were  among  beings  devoid  of  reason,  the  Creoles  systemat 
ically  excluded  from  offices  reserved  solely  for  Spaniards 
born  in  Spain,  slavery  in  full  vigor,  the  inquisition 
flourishing,  the  torture  applied  with  cold  cruelty,  the 
power  of  printing,  selling,  or  reading  books  not  existing 
in  any  degree.  Not  only  was  the  circulation  of  ideas  inter 
dicted,  but  the  circulation  of  merchandise  was  subjected 
to  the  most  incredible  regulations ;  the  working  of  a 
colony  for  the  benefit  of  the  mother  country  had  rarely 
been  carried  so  far.  As  to  the  security  of  strangers,  as 


ST.    DOMINGO    AND   MEXICO.  319 

to  the  complaints  which  European  countries,  particularly 
France,  would  have  had  a  right  to  make  at  that  time, 
those  who  know  how  the  government  set  to  work  to 
combat  the  insurrection  at  its  birth,  will  have  no  difficulty 
in  forming  an  opinion.  It  was  a  trilling  consolation  to 
see,  from  this  epoch,  as  many  colonels  and  captains,  as 
many  plumes  and  gilded  uniforms  in  the  most  obscure 
Mexican  villages  as  may  be  seen  there  to-day. 

Among  the  most  shameful  pages  of  history,  there 
is  nothing  that  can  be  compared  to  this  long,  bigoted 
tyranny.  Indeed,  when  it  was  overthrown  by  the  great 
American  Revolution  in  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  its  downfall  excited  not  a  shadow  of  regret 
either  in  the  New  World  or  the  Old.  In  line,  the  pres 
ent  Mexico,  to  which  Spain,  if  left  to  herself,  would  have 
gladly  given  a  lesson  in  good  government,  is  polluted 
neither  by  slavery,  nor  by  the  inequalities  of  race,  nor  by 
intolerance.  It  is  fitting  to  render  it  some  credit  for 
this. 

But  who  knows?  religious  liberty  and  civil  marriage 
were  not  perhaps  in  the  eyes  of  the  Spaniards,  the  least 
trifling  misdeeds  to  punish,  and  the  most  abominable  acts 
to  reform  in  Mexico.  It  can  no  longer  be  doubted  that 
at  the  first  moment  they  dreamed  of  the  pure  and  simple 
establishment  of  the  Spanish  monarchy.  It  is  for  this 
reason,  in  great  part,  that  France  and  England  have  been 
unwilling  to  let  them  go  alone,  which  they  would  have 
greatly  preferred  to  do.  The  triple  expedition  is  no  longer, 
thank  God  !  cither  a  reestablishment  of  viceroys,  or  a  re 
action  against  the  piinciplcs  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
or  a  campaign  in  honor  of  Miramon  and  the  clerical  party. 

It  is  no  longer  this  ;  nevertheless,  let  us  beware !  in 
such  a  matter,  it  would  be  but  too  easy  to  do  what  was 
at  first  projected.  Pretended  political  necessities  rise  up 


320  EUROPE   IN    AMERICA. 

one  after  another.  A  government  has  been  destroyed; 
it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  replace  it.  And  how  ?  Upon 
what  shall  it  be  based  ?  We  are  forced  to  accept  parties  as 
they  are.  Thus,  we  deviate  insensibly  ;  at  first,  it  is  only 
in  question  to  demand  reparation ;  later,  the  question  is  to 
accord  indirect  encouragement,  and  at  length  we  find 
ourselves  launched  into  intervention  proper. 

I  call  attention  to  this  peril.  Non-intervention  should 
be  the  sovereign  rule  of  a  time  so  favorable  to  the  prin 
ciple  of  nationalities.  I  know  all  that  may  be  said  :  "  The 
republican  system  has  been  the  ruin  of  Mexico  ;  it  is  only 
in  question  to  bring  it  back  to  its  genuine  traditions, 
transiently  and  involuntarily  abandoned ;  monarchical 
Mexico  will  become  another  Brazil."  Suppose  this  pros 
pect  to  be  most  seductive,  suppose  institutions  to  have 
the  power  within  themselves  that  is  attributed  to  them, 
and  form  to  prevail  over  matter,  suppose  it  easy  to  with 
draw  after  having  aided  in  a  political  revolution,  and 
intervention  to  bring  no  protectorate  in  its  train,  I  never 
theless  persist  in  confessing  my  distaste  for  the  system 
which  pretends  to  render  men  happy  in  spite  of  them 
selves.  Were  it  in  the  service  of  the  best  constitution  in 
the  world,  had  it  no  other  result  than  to  secure  the  free 
manifestation  of  the  national  sentiment  and  the  lasting 
satisfaction  of  the  country's  needs,  the  armed  propaganda 
of  a  foreign  power  would  always  seem  to  me  suspicious. 
It  is  no  small  thing,  moreover,  to  overthrow  for  the  first 
time  a  republic  on  the  American  continent ;  projects  of 
monarchical  restoration  may  appear  one  after  another  ; 
Spain,  it  is  said,  has  already  spoken  of  Peru,  and  other 
tottering  and  ill-governed  republics  have  been  pointed 
out  to  the  attention  of  Europe. 

It  is  in  vain  that  these  things  are  effected  through  the 
hands  of  the  natives ;  it  remains,  nevertheless,  certain  that 


ST.    DOMIXGO    AXD   MEXICO.  321 

the  mere  counsels,  still  less  the  presence  of  European 
regiments,  constitute  the  most  decisive  of  influences. 
Thus  begin  those  interminable  tutelages  to  which  I 
should  be  unwilling  to  see  us  return.  Monarchies  im 
planted  in  this  wise  would  never  have  any  thing  except 
a  borrowed  strength  ;  national  life  can  be  developed 
neither  in  nor  about  them  ;  far  different  in  this  from  the 
Brazilian  monarchy  which  we  have  just  cited,  and  which 
was  invented  by  no  one.  Born  on  the  soil,  it  has  not  had 
to  invoke  the  support  of  European  protectorates. 

I  hope  that  we  shall  avoid  entering  too  far  into  an 
enterprise  strewn  with  embarrassment.  The  language  of 
the  English  government  and  the  English  press,  has  proved 
for  some  time  that  public  opinion  is  on  its  guard  among 
our  allies.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  enthusiasm  will  be 
much  greater  among  us.  Spain,  herself,  much  cooled 
since  the  personal  chances  of  her  dynasty  have  disappear 
ed,  is  perhaps  about  to  cease  to  urge  a  policy  of  interven 
tion. 

It  remains  to  be  known  whether,  in  the  sole  aim  of 
arresting  the  expansion  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  and 
replacing  the  Americans  in  Mexico  by  Spaniards  and 
Austrians,  we  are  willing  to  introduce,  henceforth,  a  sub 
ject  of  inevitable  and  deadly  conflict  between  the  United 
States  and  Europe. 

The  overthrowal  of  the  republican  system  in  Mexico, 
would  be  the  most  sensible  check  that  could  be  inflicted 
on  the  United  States.  It  would  also  be  a  menace,  the 
scope  of  which  they  would  measure,  and  even  exaggerate. 
They  know  that,  had  it  not  been  for  their  present  difficul 
ties,  no  one  would  have  ever  entertained  such  a  thought. 
They  content  themselves  at  present  with  complaining 
diplomatically,  and  making  their  reservations ;  with  re- 


322  EUROPE   IN    AMERICA. 

ceiving  at  Washington  plans  of  a  treaty  signed  by  Juarez ; 
with  verifying  the  profound  emotion  which  the  resurrec* 
tion  of  the  old  colonial  policy  causes  from  one  end  to  the 
other  of  the  New  World  ;  by-and-by,  they  will  be  tempt 
ed  to  do  more.  Is  it  prudent  to  pave  the  way  for  such  con 
flicts  in  a  perhaps  early  future  ?  Is  a  monarchy  in  Mexico 
worth,  I  do  not  say,  a  war  with  the  United  States,  but  a 
rupture  of  amicable  relations?  Are  we  to  commence 
what  we  can  neither  finish  nor  sustain  ;  what  we  cannot 
sustain  in  any  case  except  at  the  price  of  formidable  com 
plications  ? 

These  questions   propound   themselves  of  their  own 
accord.     The  wisdom  of  Europe  will  resolve  them. 


PART    FIFTH. 

TO     AMERICANS. 


CHAFFER    I. 

TIIE   CRISIS    OF   THE   UPRISING. 

THE  other  day,  on  opening  my  letters,  I  found  one 
beginning  thus  :  uThe  downfall  of  a  great  people."  My 
anonymous  correspondent  proposed  this  subject  for  my 
meditation,  exulting  over  my  credulity  and  absurd  op 
timism. 

I  must  confess  that  he  is  not  alone.  The  idea  of  seiz 
ing  on  the  moment  when  a  great  people  is  entering  a 
painful  crisis  to  celebrate  its  uprising,  will  always  appear 
ridiculous  in  the  eyes  of  unreflecting  men.  Pausing  at 
appearances,  what  do  we  see  ?  An  enormous  diminution 
of  power,  mistakes,  reverses,  doubtful  or  disputed  suc 
cesses,  heavy  taxes,  loans,  deficits,  embarrassment  within 
and  without,  a  social  fever  enfeebling  and  over  exciting 
by  turns,  a  crowd  of  problems  which  propound  themselves 
alone,  but  which  do  not  resolve  themselves  alone ;  lastly, 
in  the  future,  an  obscure,  uncertain  issue,  at  which  no  one 


324  TO    AMERICANS. 

can  as  yet  rejoice.  To  wish  us  to  compliment  this  people 
on  the  position  in  which  it  is  placed,  on  its  divisions,  its 
civil  war,  the  contempt  of  strangers,  the  profit  which 
they  derive  from  its  distress,  is  indeed  to  be  very  exacting. 
One  is  not,  to  this  point,  a  lover  of  paradoxes. 

This  great  subject  of  political  paradoxes  has  been 
touched  in  passing  by  a  generous  and  scholarly  pen.  "  I 
do  not  wish  to  speak  ill  of  statesmen,"  wrote  M.  Labou- 
laye,  "  but  their  policy  often  consists  in  shutting  them 
selves  up  in  the  present  moment,  and  seeing  nothing 
beyond  it ;  for  this  reason,  the  solution  which  they  choose 
is  old  at  its  birth.  Religionists  and  philosophers  are 
generally  very  disdainful  toward  sages ;  nevertheless  these 
men,  who  are  not  at  all  practical,  are  almost  the  only 
ones  who  arc  right  in  the  end.  Why?  Because  they 
believe  in  ideas.  Passions  wear  themselves  out,  interests 
change  place,  whilst  ideas  germinate,  grow,  and  become 
facts.  We  can  foretell  their  victory,  as,  in  the  spring, 
when  the  wheat  shoots  from  the  ground,  we  can  foretell 
the  harvest.  Who,  for  twenty  years,  have  been  exclaim 
ing  in  every  key,  that  the  United  States  were  hastening  to 
ruin  through  injustice?  Dreamers.  Who  have  pointed 
to  the  statistics  of  population,  tonnage  and  bales  of  cot 
ton,  to  show  that  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States  was 
continually  increasing?  Practical  men.  The  United 
States  began  its  uprising  on  the  day  when  the  North  and 
West  broke  with  their  own  interests  to  defend  the  cause 
of  justice.  .  .  .  Whether  the  North  reestablish  the  Union, 
enclosing  slavery  within  a  limited  circle,  or  remain  alone 
with  her  free  institutions,  she  may  again  become  what 
she  was  in  former  times,  the  admiration  and  envy  of 
Europe." 

I  have  not  resisted  the  desire  to  quote  these  admir 
able  words.  If  it  be  a  paradox  to  believe  in  a  moral 


CRISIS    OP  THE    UPRISING.  325 

uprising  which  costs  something  to  material  prosperity, 
there  will  still  be  a  few  of  us  who  will  sustain  such  a 
paradox.  If  struggles  for  humanity  and  right  appear 
insane,  there  will  be  a  few  of  us  who  will  continue  to 
applaud  them.  If  it  be  told  us  that  America  "  is  now 
making  a  melancholy  exhibition  of  herself,"  we  will 
answer  that  this  melancholy  exhibition  was  made  by  her 
lately,  before  the  crisis,  before  the  wretchedness,  before 
the  pretended  decay. 

Before  the  recent  successes  which  have  somewhat 
changed  the  points  of  view,  I  met  none  but  sorrowful, 
disappointed,  and  discouraged  men,  exclaiming  that  all  was 
lost.  This  was  told  us  in  a  country  which  has  witnessed 
dragoonades,  Louis  XV.,  the  Revolution,  European  coali 
tions  ;  which  has  been  lost,  I  know  not  how  many  times, 
and  which  is  still  existing.  All  was  lost  in  England  after 
the  Stuarts  ;  all  is  lost  in  Italy,  to  hear  some  men.  The 
peoples  appeal  from  these  sentences. 

Do  you  know  what  is  fatal  ?  To  become  accustomed 
to  evil  and  resigned  to  iniquity.  Where  crises  of  upris 
ing  are  lacking,  crises  of  death  supervene.  And  crises  of 
uprising  do  not  go  forward  without  their  train — disasters, 
reverses,  transient  weakening. 

I  have  occasionally  asked  myself  for  some  time  past, 
on  hearing  so  many  lamentations,  whether  men  had  really 
believed  in  the  possibility  of  a  crisis  without  suffering; 
whether  they  had  really  been  resigned  to  accept  the  con 
tinuation  of  the  shameful  system  to  which  the  election  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  put  an  end.  It  is  the  one  or  the  other: 
either  the  former  condition  was  tolerable  ;  or  the  colossal 
transformation  which  it  is  in  question  to  effect,  should  have 
cost  no  one  any  thing.  If  they  had  adopted  neither  of 
these  hypotheses,  they  would  not  have  been  thus  dismay 
ed  ;  they  would  not  have  deplored  so  loudly  the  American 


326  TO    AMERICANS. 

crisis;  they  would  not  have  clung  with  the  eagerness  of 
despair  to  any  arrangement,  good  or  bad,  honorable  or 
disgraceful,  which  seemed  suited  to  end  it. 

Since  the  funeral  oration' commenced  at  the  precise 
instant  when  the  North  rose  against  the  policy  of  slavery, 
this  policy  was  therefore  the  condition  of  the  United 
States' existence!  They  were  therefore  to  let  the  evil 
and  crime  increase  !  They  were  therefore  to  pile  up  dol 
lars,  to  prosper,  to  make  favorable  treaties  of  commerce! 

Ah  !  I  know  well  that  great  reforms  make  noise,  while 
ignoble  decay  makes  none.  One  vanishes  gently,  gliding 
down  miry  slopes,  and  falling  into  the  abyss,  and  this 
without  disturbing  human  communities  as  do  rude  efforts 
and  generous  combats. 

Before  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  United  States 
were  rich  ;  they  were  receiving  great  numbers  of  immi 
grants,  they  were  advancing  boldly  into  the  deserts, 
they  were  exercising  great  influence,  and  England  sent 
them  no  ultimatums.  Well,  then  was  the  time  when 
it  was  fitting  to  mourn.  And  we  did  mourn,  indeed  ;  we, 
who  are  blamed  for  our  optimism,  then  incurred  quite  a 
different  reproach.  Under  this  false  prosperity,  the  true 
ruin  was  being  accomplished  ;  this  great  country  was 
sinking  and  debasing  itself  apace. 

This  was  the  time  when  President  Taylor  traded  in 
slaves,  when  the  slave  trade  was  organized  publicly  in 
New  York,  when  every  census  brought  proof  of  the 
increase  in  the  number  of  slaves :  three  million  two  hun 
dred  thousand  in  1850;  four  million  in  1860;  when  the 
extradition  of  fugitive  slaves  became  the  legitimate  law 
of  the  whole  country;  when  the  whole  country  descended 
to  this  shame,  and  seemed  to  justify  for  a  moment  the 
sarcastic  litany  of  Theodore  Parker — St.  Judas  Iscariot. 


CRISIS    OF    TJJE   UPRISING.  327 

To  deplore  the  existing  crisis  is  to  regret  that  time. 
There  was  no  longer  either  truth,  or  liberty  of  the  press, 
or  freedom  of  discussion ;  the  imperious  voice  of  the 
South  dictated  the  acts  of  the  Republic  and  prescribed  the 
elections ;  the  South  exacted  a  violent  outside  policy  ;  it 
wished  Cuba,  it  wished  Central  America,  it  wished  space 
and  virgin  lands  to  which  to  transport  its  slaves;  the 
Supreme  Court  adopted  its  maxims,  terrified  liberty 
recoiled  before  triumphant  slavery,  an  envious  democracy 
levelled  down  all  superiority  and  crushed  all  independence; 
public  morals  were  corrupted,  commercial  improbity  was 
approved,  principles  were  blotted  out  before  facts  and 
conscience  before  numbers ;  the  standard  fell,  fell  contin 
ually,  and  to  heighten  the  misfortune,  the  prosperity  went 
on  increasing.  One  of  the  most  eminent  magistrates  of 
the  United  States  exclaimed  lately,  on  referring  to  this 
fearful  time  !  "  I  despaired  of  my  country." 

He  despaired  of  it,  on  his  side;  but  we  Europeans  had 
but  one  voice  to  applaud  it.  America,  to  hear  us,  had 
reached  the  summit  of  prosperity.  We,  who  sigh  so 
much  to-day,  had  then  neither  grief  nor  terror.  After 
having  blamed  in  passing  a  few  acts  "  to  be  regretted," 
after  having  deplored  as  a  matter  of  form  "  the  necessities 
of  policy,"  which  force  one  sometimes  to  sacrifice  justice 
and  to  maintain  peace  at  the  price  of  troublesome  con 
cessions,  we  consoled  ourselves  fully  in  thinking  that,  if 
America  were  invaded  by  slavery,  if  her  institutions  were 
perverted  and  her  honor  compromised,  she  had  not  ceased 
to  increase  and  grow  rich. 

As  to  those  who  think  that  the  uprising  was  necessary, 
but  that  it  should  have  cost  nothing,  I  ask  whence  they 
have  derived  an  illusion  of  this  nature.  It  has  not  been, 
at  all  events,  from  history.  If  there  be  a  truth  shown 


328  TO   AMERICANS. 

clearly  in  its  pages,  it  is  that  every  uprising  is  a  crisis. 
To  dream  of  roses  without  thorns  and  of  progress  without 
suffering,  we  must  shut  our  eyes.  Nothing  is  so  disa 
greeable  to  witness  as  the  uprising  of  a  people  ;  there  are 
struggles,  mistakes,  reverses,  and  dangers ;  there  is  blood 
and  ruin  ;  prudent  men  stand  aside,  feeling  hearts  are 
roused  to  indignation,  vulgar  minds  disparage  and  ana 
thematize.  Why  not  die  decently,  tranquilly,  instead  of 
troubling  the  world  by  these  paroxysms  of  feverish 
agitation  ? 

It  is  almost  always  at  the  epochs  when  the  good  re 
sumes  the  lead  that  we  behold  the  appearance  of  social 
sufferings.  It  does  not  enter  into  the  designs  of  God  for 
great  iniquities  to  be  blotted  out  before  their  chastise 
ment  has  made  itself  felt.  And  here,  the  fact  is  remark 
able,  the  chastisement  falls  at  once  upon  all  the  guilty 
ones :  upon  the  South,  which  sustained  slavery ;  upon 
the  North,  the  accomplice  of  the  South ;  upon  Europe, 
indifferent  to  the  wrong  and  too  long  disposed  to  profit 
by  it. 

We  must  bow  our  heads  and  adore  the  hand  that  smites 
us.  God  has  sent  the  wars,  the  commercial  crises,  the 
miseries  of  all  kinds  ;  they  are  the  pains  of  travail,  they 
will  last  until  a  new  America,  a  free  and  just  America, 
shall  have  come  into  the  world. 

We  always  pay  more  dearly  for  a  progress  than  a 
fault ;  or  rather,  it  is  at  the  hour  of  a  progress  that  the 
account  of  faults  is  settled.  Struggles  for  the  right  then 
break  out ;  and  reparation  is  wrought  through  suffering. 
When  our  ancient  French  society,  rotten  to  the  core, 
crumbled  away  at  the  close  of  the  last  century ;  when  its 
old,  accumulated  crimes,  tyrannies,  persecutions,  and  cor 
ruptions  encountered  other  crimes  in  their  way ;  when 
the  terrible  expiation  of  the  past  of  France  was  wrought, 


CRISIS    OF   THE    UPRISING.  329 

wise  men  did  not  fail  to  write  :  "  We  are  witnessing  the 
ruin  of  a  great  people."  Nevertheless,  it  was  not  ruin, 
but  uprising,  which  was  effected  in  this  manner. 

Since  the  cannon  of  Sebastopol  slew  the  retrograde 
policy  which  was  personified  in  Nicholas,  Russia  has  en 
tered  into  the  way  of  reforms.*  A  new  emperor  has 
generously  given  the  signal,  and  serfhood  is  beginning  to 
die.  Here  is  another  country  which  is  about  to  pass 
through  a  crisis,  because  it  is  about  to  accomplish  a  prog 
ress.  Hasten,  ye  prophets  of  misfortune ;  announce 
anew  the  ruin  of  a  great  people  !  See,  serfhood  does  not 
disappear  alone,  it  draws  along  in  its  train  the  entire  old 
organization.  This  is  true  ;  but  where  is  the  harm  ?  Was 
there  not  need  of  transforming  the  entire  organization  ? 
For  a  long  time  we  have  been  striving  here  below  to  re 
pair  worm-eaten  edifices,  yet  it  always  happens  that,  after 
having  replastered  again  and  again,  we  are  forced  to 
build  anew.  We  will  build  anew  then  in  Russia  ;  the 
bureaucracy,  the  censorship,  the  police,  will  not  long  sur 
vive  serfhood  ;  the  publicity  of  judicial  debates,  the  dis 
cussion  of  budgets,  the  intervention  of  the  country  in 
its  own  affairs,  will  not  be  long  in  coming.  Already,  the 
assemblies  of  the  representatives  of  the  nobility  at  St.  Pe 
tersburg,  and  above  all,  at  Moscow,  have  cast  votes  which 
must  have  made  the  Emperor  Nicholas  rise  in  his  tomb. 
Are  we  to  grieve  for  it  ?  Let  us  grieve  that  there  are  so 
many  abuses  to  reform,  that  there  is  so  much  corruption 
to  combat ;  this  is  well ;  but  let  us  not  grieve  that  life  is 
to  be  more  agitated,  more  turbulent  than  death. 

*  Do  not  those  who  obstinately  persist  in  not  comprehending  the 
Crimean  war,  see  what  has  sprung  from  it?  It  has  in  no  wise  resus 
citated  the  Turks,  for  whom  very  little  was  cared ;  it  has  forced  Russia 
to  abdicate  its  absolutist  patronage,  and  to  undertake  its  own  transfor 
mation.  The  liberal  alliance  of  the  West  has  borne  fruits  of  liberty. 


330  TO    AMERICANS. 

Crises  of  uprising  mark  the  great  epochs  of  history. 
What  crisis,  I  limit  myself  to  this,  what  crisis  can  be 
compared  to  that  which  dates  from  the  coming  of  Jesus 
Christ  ?  He  said  :  "  I  do  not  come  to  bring  peace,  but  a 
sword."  The  immensity  of  the  benefit  is  measured  by 
the  immensity  of  the  suffering.  Behold  the  whole  an 
tique  society  succumbing ;  behold  pagan  serenity  disap 
pearing  ;  behold  the  national  religions  perishing ;  behold 
divisions  introducing  themselves  everywhere,  in  the  State, 
in  the  family,  in  the  very  recesses  of  the  human  soul ; 
atrocious  persecutions,  religious  wars  spring  up  unceas 
ingly  from  their  ashes ;  the  refinements  of  cruelty  and 
the  excesses  of  hatred  are  about  to  have  full  sway; 
the  blood  of  Christians  will  be  shed ;  and  Christians  (or 
those  that  bear  the  name)  will  shed  blood  in  their  turn; 
it  will  flow  in  torrents ;  the  world  will  be  in  anguish. 
But  the  world  will  be  transfigured,  rejuvenated,  upraised. 
Above  the  mire  of  ancient  society,  a  new  society  will  have 
appeared,  like  unto  the  lands  which,  when  our  globe  as 
sumed  its  present  form,  rose  at  the  voice  of  God  from  the 
bosom  of  the  troubled  waters. — The  ignominies  of  Rome 
have  disappeared,  slavery  has  fallen  back  slowly  before 
the  gospel ;  the  family  has  been  formed,  and  woman  has 
become  the  mother  of  the  family ;  individual  conscience 
has  conquered  its  rights,  direct  relations  have  been  estab 
lished  between  the  soul  and  God,  light  has  been  shed  on 
life,  death,  and  eternity :  the  mind  has  known  needs, 
agitated  questions,  entered  upon  spaces  of  which  anti 
quity  knew  nothing ;  modern  liberties  have  made  inva 
sion,  modern  thought  has  been  born.  These  are  marvels, 
dazzling  marvels,  which  wre  should  better  appreciate  if  we 
were  more  accustomed  to  them,  if  any  one  could  make 
us  feel  but  for  a  day  the  icy  contact  with  human  com 
munities,  such  as  they  were  before  Jesus  Christ. 


CRISIS    OF    THE    UPRISING.  331 

And  I  speak  of  communities,  I  leave  aside  all  that  con 
cerns  the  individual  salvation.  It  will  not  be  useless, 
however,  to  cast  a  glance  in'o  the  depths  of  the  soul,  and 
to  seek  there,  there  also,  tl.e  characteristics  of  this  su 
preme  crisis,  which  is  the  crisis  of  uprising.  They  know 
something  of  it,  who  have  tasted  the  sufferings  and  the 
ravishing  delights  of  faith.  They  know  what  rocky  paths 
are  travelled,  what  sufferings  are  passed  through,  what 
continual  struggles  are  carried  on  within  us  from  the 
moment  that  we  begin  to  see  ourselves  as  we  are,  and  to 
feel  the  necessity  of  internal  reform. 

Ah  !  it  is  with  nations  as  with  individuals.  The  peoples 
who  make  progress  are  the  peoples  of  suffering  and  com 
bat.  Xoble  sufferings,  glorious  combats,  without  which 
uprising  is  impossible  !  No,  I  will  never  consent  to  rank 
among  disasters,  the  bloody  victories  of  humanity  ;  it 
would  be  to  veil  the  moral  side  of  history.  In  spile  of 
all  the  weeping  voices  which  lately  joined  in  a  concert  of 
lamentations,  I  congratulate  Americans  on  having  willed 
the  cure  with  its  necessary  conditions  ;  on  having  recoiled 
neither  before  the  bitterness  of  the  remedies,  nor  the 
sharp  pain  of  the  operations,  nor  the  transient  despond 
ency  which  precedes  and  paves  the  way  for  the  reestab- 
lishment  of  strength.  I  should  doubt  their  uprising,  I 
acknowledge,  if  they  had  not  passed  through  weakening 
and  the  chances  ofruin. 

What  an  immense  step  America  has  just  taken  !  Be 
tween  the  presidency  of  Mr.  Buchanan  and  that  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  there  is  the  distance  of  a  social  revolution.  The 
sons  of  the  Puritans  are  slow  to  move  ;  but  once  set  in 
motion,  they  go  forward,  and  nothing  stops  them.  Can 
there  really  be  souls  cold  enough  not  to  rejoice  at  the 
thought,  that  the  time  in  which  we  live  is  that  of  the 
15 


332  TO   AMERICANS. 

great  triumph  over  slavery  ?  Is  it  nothing  to  have  seen 
it  with  our  own  eyes  while  we  are  on  earth  ? 

Slavery  has  received  its  death  blow  ;  doubtless,  I  have 
no  longer  to  d  -monstrate  it.  What  the  last  election  com 
menced,  the  providential  defeats  of  the  North  have  com 
pleted,  and  now  he  would  be  mad,  indeed,  who  should 
attempt  to  return  backward.  A  man  who  can  be  believed 
on  his  word,  for  he  has  a  right  to  be  more  fastidious  than 
any  one  in  the  matter  of  abolition,  Charles  Sumner,  ex 
claimed  lately  at  Worcester  :  "  The  victory  is  already 
gained,  the  country  is  already  saved!"  And  he  added 
the  animating  words :  "  Others  may  despair,  not  I.  Many 

others  see  the  dark  side,  I  cannot However 

great  the  peril  of  our  country  may  still  appear,  it  was  far 
greater  when  it  was  falling,  year  after  year,  under  the 
yoke  of  slavery." 

Slavery,  indeed,  is  not  a  yoke  for  the  slaves  alone,  it 
is  a  yoke  for  the  governments  themselves;  it  was  the 
question  first  of  all  to  emancipate  the  government  of  the 
United  States.  God  has  had  pity  on  America  in  not  per 
mitting  the  South  to  be  more  adroit ;  that  is,  more  moder 
ate.  If  it  had  consented  to  return  speedily  co  the  Union, 
much  would  have  been  accorded  it ;  it  would  have  been 
left  with  a  majority  in  the  Senate,  with  the  support  of 
the  democratic  party  in  the  whole  North,  lastly,  with  the 
always  ready  and  still  powerful  menace :  "  We  will  secede 
on  the  day  that  you  touch  slavery." 

I  wish  to  cite  on  this  subject,  one  of  the  most  power 
ful  orators  of  America,  the  Rev.  Henry  Ward  Beecher : 
"  I  hear  many  exclaim — '  It  is  horrible  to  think  of  brothers 
slaughtering  each  other.'  But  is  it  not  just  as  horrible  to 
think  that,  on  the  Southern  plantations,  so  many  men  are 
yielding  up  the  last  sigh,  torn  by  the  whip  of  the  over 
seer  ?  .  .  .  Ah,  civil  war  is  u  fearful  thing,  but  I 


CRISIS    OP   THE   UPRISING.  333 

know  of  something  that  would  be  still  more  fearful — to 
see  the  evil  which  reigns  in  the  South  invade  the  whole 
country.  .  .  .  Peace  is  not  the  first  good  for  a  nation, 
justice  is  still  more  precious.  You  have  no  right  to  wish 
for  peace,  until  God  has  made  justice  to  reign.  Such  is 
the  teaching  of  the  Gospel.  "When  we  shall  have  done 
with  injustice,  our  peace  will  flow  like  a  river.  .  .  God 
forbid  that  peace  be  "btained  until  the  reign  of  justice  be 
established  among  us !  " 

This  prayer  lias  been  granted.  The  reign  of  justice 
will  be  established ;  the  true  uprising,  which  great  hearts 
place  above  prosperity  as  above  peace,  will  be  finally 
accomplished. 

We  shall  not  be  long  in  perceiving  it ;  American  policy 
will  regain  the  standard  below  which  it  had  fallen.  \<> 
more  wars  for  slavery,  no  more  Walker  expeditions  pro 
tected  by  Mr.  Slidell  and  his  friends,  no  more  vetoes  op 
posed  by'a  new  Jefferson  Davis  to  the  vote  of  :i  State 
desirous  of  paying  its  debts !  Waste  will  be  severely 
reprimanded,  now  that  the  passion  for  struggles  on  the 
subject  of  slavery  is  no  longer  at  hand  to  cover  every 
thing,  now  that  direct  taxation  has  come  to  make  the 
knaveries  of  administrators  weigh  upon  each  citizen. 

Xot  only  has  the  government  just  received  its  letters 
of  emancipation,  but  individuals  themselves  will  breathe 
henceforth  with  a  freedom  which  had  ceased  to  be  known 
in  America.  The  emancipation  of  slaves  will  bring  with 
it  the  emancipation  of  politics  and  of  characters.  Two 
questions  have  been  treated  and  resolved  at  the  same 
time — the  question  of  slavery  and  that  of  democracy ;  it 
was  time  that  the  elasticity  of  individualism  resumed  its 
vigor,  and  ceased  to  be  restrained  by  the  despotism  of 
numbers. 


334:  TO   AMERICANS. 

N"o  despotism  has  surpassed  this — thanks  to  the  dema 
gogic  pressure  let  loose  by  the  passions  of  the  South, 
popular  sovereignty  had  become  a  rude  idol ;  it  seemed 
as  though  morality  were  put  to  vote,  and  infamy  became 
honest  as  soon  as  it  obtained  the  majority!  What  do 
the  ravages  of  such  principles  tell  ?  Public  and  private 
morals  corrupted  at  the  same  time;  for  there  is,  thank 
God,  aunity  in  man,  and  the  pretension  to  remain  hon 
est  in  certain  acts  while  becoming  a  knave  in  certain 
others,  has  always  received  the  contradictions  of  expe 
rience. 

It  will  not  be  the  least  proof  of  the  uprising  which 
is  being  wrought,  to  see  individuals  rise  up  before  the 
masses ;  lately  crushed,  ground  down,  confounded  by 
force  with  the  State,  they  will  dare  listen  to  their  con 
science  and  be  of  their  own  mind.  There  will  no  longer 
be  unlimited  power  in  America;  that  is,  there  will  be 
liberty  at  last. 

A  last  progress  will  have  been  accomplished  ;  the 
United  States  needed  to  receive  lessons  of  defeat  and 
trial.  A  spoiled,  infant  people,  they  could,  no  more  than 
other  peoples,  dispense  with  the  harsh  instructions  of 
adversity.  They  had  been  accustomed  to  success  and 
flatteries;  they  had  conceived  an  unreasonable  opinion 
of  themselves.  Thence  came  some  presumption  in  lan 
guage,  and  some  arrogance  in  action.  Xow  they  have 
passed  through  the  crucible  in  which  we  leave  our 
scoria?. 

To  renounce  adulation  is  not  to  renounce,  far  from 
it,  the  esteem  of  others.  Never,  on  the  contrary,  has 
the  true  power  of  America  more  fully  broken  forth.  This 
uprising  through  justice  will  remain  one  of  the  great 
events  of  history.  This  people,  fallen  so  low  under  Mr. 
Buchanan,  an$  which  succeeds  in  rising,  this  new  Antaeus, 


CRISIS    OF    THE   UPRISING.  335 

that  regains  strength  on  touching  the  soil  of  liberty  and 
law,  no  one,  believe  me,  will  regard  with  disdain. 

It  might  have  been    said    formerly  that  the  United 
States  subsisted  only  through  their  privileged  position — • 
without  neighbors,  consequently  without  enemies,  exempt 
from  the  efforts   exacted  by  war,  life  had  been   casv  to 
them ;  their  vast  political  edifice  had  not  been  tried,  for 
it  had  struggled  against  no  tempest,  and  there  was  right 
to  suppose  that  the  first  torrent  which  beat  against  the 
wall  would  overthrow  or  shake  the  foundations.     To-day, 
the  torrent  has  come,  and  the  foundation  remains.     The 
impotent  nationality  which  had  been  shown  us  submerged 
beneath  the  waves  of   immigration,   has  been   found  an 
energetic  and  long-lived  nationality.     In  the  face  of  the 
rebellious  South  as  in  the   face-   of  the  menacing  South, 
there  is  found  an  American  nation.      It  has  broken  for 
ever  ;  yes,  broken,  even  in  the  event  of  the  effective  sepa 
ration  of  a  portion  of  the  South,  the  perfidious  weapon 
of  separation.      It  has  passed  through  the  triple  ordeal 
which  all  governments  must  endure — the  ordeal  of  founda 
tion,  of  independence,  of  revolution.     It  has  affranchised 
with  one  blow,  its  present  and  its  future.    At  the  hour  of 
disasters,  it  has  displayed  the  rarest  quality  of  all — patience 
to  repair  the  evil.     It  could  at  that  time  utter  the  con 
fident  speech  :  "  The  Americans  of  the  North  are  only  the 
better  for  having  been  beaten  once  or  twice."     Lastly, 
while  engaged  in  a  struggle  with  difficulties  from  without, 
the  United  States  have  known  how  to  accept  the  conse 
quences  of  their  embarrassment,  without  ceasing  to  hold 
a  language  full  of  dignity ;  they  have  made  their  protesta 
tions   and    maintained   their   principles,    while    awaiting 
better  days. 

I  shall  not  waste  my  time  in  demonstrating  that,  if  the 
Union  come  out  of  the  crisis  victorious,  it  will  come  out 


336  TO    AMERICANS. 

aggrandized.  The  uprising  of  a  great  people  will  then 
have  numerous  partisans,  and  my  paradox  will  become  a 
commonplace.  I  have  been  anxious  to  establish  another 
theory,  no  less  true,  but  less  popular — to-day,  during  the 
crisis,  in  the  midst  of  difficulties  and  perils,  whatever  may 
be  the  issue  of  the  struggle,  the  uprising  is  already  ac 
complished.  Already,  America  has  said  to  slavery  : 
"  Thou  shalt  go  no  further."  Already,  it  has  said  to  the 
South :  "  I  recoil  neither  before  thy  plans  of  disruption, 
nor  before  the  sovereign  influence  which  thy  cotton  must 
exert  on  the  determinations  of  Europe."  Already,  it 
has  resisted  the  terrible  ordeal  of  treasons.  Already,  it 
has  maintained  its  unity  and  avoided  mob  violence. 
Already,  it  has  accepted  heavy  charges  which  will  leave 
their  traces  on  the  American  budget,  like  the  noble  scars 
which  remain  stamped  on  the  countenance  of  conquerors. 
The  uprising  is  therefore  already  accomplished.  It 
may  be  that  the  United  States  will  still  combat  and  suffer, 
but  their  cause  will  not  perish ;  and  their  cause  is  their 
greatness. 


CHAPTER  II. 

MAINTENANCE    OF    FREE    INSTITUTIONS. 

UPRISING  is  not  revolution.  It  is  even  quite  the  con 
trary.  Revolution  is  what  the  South  has  been  striving  to 
effect ;  the  triumph  over  the  South  will  consist  in  main 
taining  as  they  are  the  free  institutions  of  the  country. 

Americans!  it  is  necessary  to  give  a  contradiction  to 
the  prognostic,  "  The  civil  war  will  kill  slavery  in  the 
South,  and  liberty  in  the  Xorlh."  Distrust  those  among 
you  who  turn  to  unity  of  power  as  to  a  refuge;  do  not 
listen  to  those  sceptical  minds  which  always  expect  some 
thing,  because  they  believe  nothing  and  hold  to  nothing. 
Remain  yourselves,  or  rather,  become  yourselves  again  ; 
aspire,  as  to  the  greatest  progress,  to  the  faithful  preser 
vation  of  your  ancient  Union,  without  religion  of  State, 
without  budget  of  worships,  without  great  armies,  without 
centralized  administration.  Remain  yourselves,  remain 
America,  this  will  be  the  greatest  of  originalities.  It  is 
important  that  there  be  something  ancient  on  your  soil, 
something  which  has  passed  through  crises  and  survived 
battles.  Your  institutions  will  be  this  thing  ;  henceforth 
tried  and  in  some  sort  venerable,  clothed  with  a  charac 
ter  of  which  the  fundamental  law  of  a  country  cannot  be 
divested  with  impunity,  they  will  secure  a  more  inviolable 


338  TO    AMERICANS. 

asylum  to  your  liberties.  Come  out  of  the  struggle  with 
the  programme  which  you  had  on  entering  it,  with  the 
political  unity  of  the  State,  with  the  administrative  inde 
pendence  of  the  States ;  do  not  make  the  common  country 
bear  the  penalty  of  the  crime  of  a  few;  above  all,  reject 
the  counsels  of  those  who  urge  you  to  ape  Europe.  As 
your  flora  and  your  fauna  are  not  ours,  so  your  social 
organization  should  not  be  that  of  the  Old  World.  Is  it 
better?  Is  it  less  good ?  Idle  questions:  it  is  different, 
and  different  it  should  remain. 

The  comparative  examination  of  republic  and  mon 
archy  is  in  place  in  China;  in  the  reality  of  human 
affairs,  these  great  questions  resolve  themselves  by  vir 
tue  of  necessities,  which  have  no  connection  with  the 
arguments  of  political  philosophy.  But,  independently 
of  forms  of  government,  which  are  not  here  in  question, 
there  are  principles  which  may  be  more  or  less  applied 
under  all  forms  of  government.  America  has  the  privi 
lege  of  having  comprehended  them  better  than  anyone; 
let  her  not  abdicate  this  superiority. 

She  is  also  as  little  governed,  above  all  as  little  ad 
ministered  as  possible ;  an  immense  advantage,  which 
might  be  weakened  or  disappear  under  the  influence  of 
existing  events.  The  American  budget  rose  to  three 
hundred  million  francs  in  1860,  and  the  American  debt  did 
not  exceed  this  amount ;  that  is  to  say,  the  capital  owed 
by  the  United  States  was  only  the  equivalent  of  a  year 
of  their  revenue.  Well ;  this  is  the  ideal  toward  which  it 
is  important  ere  long  to  return. 

Ideal  is  indeed  the  word.  History  will  have  difficulty 
some  day  to  believe  that  a  great  nation  was  able  to  live 
more  than  seventy  years  without  establishing  among  it 
direct  taxation.  This  was  a  golden  age,  which  doubtless 
will  never  again  be  found ;  I  do  not  delude  myself  on 


MAINTENANCE    OF    INSTITUTIONS.  339 

this  point.  Once  having  left  the  happy  epoch  when  a  few 
indirect  taxes  sufficed  to  defray  their  expenses,  the  United 
States  will  not  return  to  it ;  the  question  is  only  to  ap 
proach  it  as  nearly  as  possible.  Despite  the  permanent 
burden  which  will  be  imposed  on  them  by  the  interest 
and  liquidation  of  the  enormous  debts  contracted  during 
the  war,  despite  the  burden  which  I  hope  will  result  from 
progressive  emancipation,  and  the  indemnity  allowed  by 
the  treasury,  there  will  still  be  means  of  establishing  at 
Washington,  budgets  bearing  very  little  resemblance  to 
those  we  vote  in  Europe.  And  this  is  essential  ;  at  an 
epoch  when  financial  embarrassment  is  the  plague  of 
almost  all  the  countries  of  the  Old  World,  the  \ew 
World  would  do  very  wrong  to  suffer  itself  to  be  seduced 
by  the  evil  sophisms  too  well  accepted  among  us.  Superb 
theories  have  been  made  for  us  on  the  merits  of  taxation, 
on  the  natural  increase  of  taxation,  on  the  advantage  of 
paying  more  and  spending  more.  What  the  result  has 
been  for  us,  Frenchmen,  every  one  knows.  When  our 
budget,  to  the  general  stupefaction,  reached  the  amount 
of  a  thousand  million  francs,  all  exclaimed  against  it.  3[. 
Thiers  made  the  speech  in  reply,  which  was,  alas!  a 
prophecy :  "  You  complain  of  this  budget  of  a  thousand 
millions!  Look  at  it  well,  for  you  will  never  again  behold 
it."  Let  our  example  instruct  the  Americans ;  unless 
they  energetically  retrace  their  steps,  they  will  speedily 
become  accustomed,  as  well  as  we,  to  spending  thousands 
of  millions. 

Europe  has  not  only  great  budgets,  she  has  great 
armies,  which  are  still  more  dangerous.  I  shall  not  ask 
Americans  to  return  to  their  army  of  sixteen  thousand 
men ;  I  am  fully  conscious  that  this  is  no  more  to  be 
thought  of;  let  them  say  to  themselves,  however,  that  all 
their  energy  is  about  to  be  needed  to  resist  the  tempta- 
15* 


340  TO    AMERICANS. 

tions  to  which  the  condition  of  war  will  have  given  birth. 
Doubtless  it  will  be  pretended  that  it  is  fitting  to  profit 
by  these  numerous  soldiers,  disciplined  and  inured  to  war, 
that  there  are  questions  to  regulate  in  Mexico  and  else 
where,  that  there  are  conquests  to  make,  that  the  oppor 
tunity  is  admirable  for  seizing  Cuba,  the  Antilles,  who 
knows  ?  perhaps  South  America  to  Cape  Horn,  that, 
moreover,  the  South  still  needs  to  be  watched  over,  that 
prudence  does  not  permit  radical  measures.  Now,  there 
are  cases  in  which  radical  measures  alone  succeed.  Hap 
pily,  the  sentiment  of  the  incompatibility  between  the 
American  system  and  standing  armies  has  not  ceased  to 
make  its  presence  felt  in  the  United  States.  While  de 
veloping  their  defensive  forces,  the  fortification  of  cities 
and  frontiers,  the  organization  of  militia,  the  improve 
ment  of  military  schools,  they  have  firmly  maintained  the 
provisional  character  of  their  armaments.  They  have 
wished,  and  I  praise  them  for  it,  none  but  volunteers. 
They  have  rejected  plans  of  conscription.  Perhaps,  at 
peace,  they  will  keep  up  a  tolerable  large  navy ;  they 
will  not,  if  they  are  wise,  keep  up  a  large  army. 

These  are  friendly  counsels.  "While  comprehending 
that  there  will  be  changes,  that  in  one  sense,  it  is  impos 
sible  that  a  new  America  should  not  come  forth  from 
such  a  furnace,  I  would  wish  the  new  one  greatly  to 
resemble  the  old,  and  above  all  to  take  care  not  to  reject 
its  best  features. 

The  modifications,  which  may  be  easily  foreseen,  will 
be  designed  to  give  a  little  more  strength  to  the  central 
power.  Without  imperilling  the  principle  of  self-govern 
ment,  which  is  the  very  essence  of  liberty,  the  Americans 
will  doubtless  realize  in  a  more  precise  manner,  the  funda 
mental  unity  of  the  nation.  The  idea  of  confederation, 


MAINTENANCE    OF    INSTITUTIONS.  341 

already  so  weak,  will  become  still  more  obliterated.  This 
is  precisely  what  happened  in  Switzerland,  after  the  rising 
in  arms  of  the  Sonderbund. 

It  is  probable  that  the  banking  system  will  be  sub 
jected  to  alteration,  and  that  the  unconditional  emission 
of  paper  currency  in  every  part  of  the  country  will  be 
prohibited.  The  independence  of  judges  needs  to  be 
guaranteed ;  there  are  States  in  which  they  are  elected 
but  for  one  year ;  and  others  where  the  quota  of  their 
salary  is  unceasingly  called  in  question.  The  impotence 
of  the  law  in  the  presence  of  great  popular  disorders  will 
demand  preservative  measures,  the  adoption  of  which  has 
become  possible  since  the  passions  of  slavery  have  ceased 
to  rule  the  country.  Lastly,  and  without  speaking  of 
the  principal  change,  of  that  which  will  determine  the 
conditions  of  the  complete  abolition  of  slavery,  I  should 
not  be  astonished  if  it  should  be  wished  to  give  a  little 
more  prestige  to  the  position  of  the  Chief  Magistrate  of 
the  Republic.  Without  returning  to  the  etiquette  estab 
lished  in  the  time  of  Washington,  when  he  held  great 
levees,  when  he  invited  none  to  his  table  but  foreign 
envoys  holding  the  rank  of  Ambassadors,  when  his  car 
riage,  drawn  by  six  horses,  was  escorted  by  two  aides-de 
camp,  when  the  managers  of  theatres  received  him  at  the 
bottom  of  the  steps,  and  all  the  spectators  rose  at  his 
entrance,  it  may  be  that  the  simplicity  of  the  White 
House  will  be  judged  too  great.  I  give  no  opinion  on 
the  question,  but  I  confess  that  this  president,  so  power 
ful  in  fact,  and  surrounded  by  so  little  paraphernalia,  this 
chief  of  a  great  people,  with  his  civil  list  costing  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty  thousand  francs,  does  not  appear  to  me 
lacking  in  greatness. 

What  is  more  important  is  that  he  should  be  checked 


342  TO    AMERICANS. 

in  the  path  of  dictatorship  which  he  has  entered  for  a 
moment.  On  separating  in  August,  Congress  voted  him 
veritable  full  powers.  Mr.  Lincoln  has  not  abused  them  ; 
the  impetuosity  which  existed  for  a  month  or  two  has 
given  place  to  a  more  reserved  attitude  ;  he  seems  to 
have  called  to  mind  the  speech  of  our  old  publicist  Jean^ 
Bodin ;  "  The  power  to  do  every  thing  does  not  give  the 
right  to  do  it." 

Nothing  is  so  tempting  and  so  convenient,  but  also  so 
dangerous,  as  full  powers.  It  is  reasonable,  doubtless,  to 
take  some  exceptional  measures  when  the  position  itself 
is  exceptional ;  the  necessities  of  war  are  incontestable ; 
a  government,  surrounded  by  spies,  and  whose  plans  are 
regularly  communicated  to  the  enemy,  has  a  right  to  de 
fend  itself.  Notwithstanding,  let  us  not  hasten  to  believe 
that  we  shall  be  much  stronger,  because  we  are  at 
liberty  to  trample  the  laws  under  foot ;  there  is  much 
more  strength,  upon  the  whole,  in  that  respect  for  the 
laws  which  goes  so  far  as  to  accept  difficulties  and  extreme 
restraint,  rather  than  have  recourse  to  arbitrary  measures. 

Coups  d'etat  have  never  strengthened  anyone;  it  is 
by  avoiding  coups  d'etat  that  the  coup  d'etat  of  the  rebel 
lion  will  be  better  suppressed.  The  law  is  the  great 
strength  of  the  North  ;  let  it  not  quit  it,  or  let  it  hasten 
to  return  to  it !  Mr.  Lincoln,  I  doubt  not,  has  had  very 
strong  reasons  for  suspending  habeas  corpus,  for  ordering 
arrests,  and  for  suppressing  newspapers.  There  has  been 
great  exaggeration  in  saying  that  the  law  of  the  suspected 
has  been  put  in  force,  that  Mr.  SeAvard  has  issued  lettres 
de  cachet,  and  that  Fort  Lafayette,  (what  an  irony  of 
fate  !)  has  been  transformed  into  a  Bastile.  At  all  events,; 
the  Government  at  Washington  comprehended  its  true' 
interests  on  the  day  that  it  restricted  the  extent  of  this 
exceptional  system.  At  the  present  time,  it  has  nearly 


MAINTENANCE   OF   INSTITUTIONS.  343 

disappeared — the  prisoners  of  state  have  been  set  at  lib 
erty,  and  the  passport  system,  a  moment  adopted,  has 
been  already  abolished. 

There  are  energetic  acts  from  which  the  president  has 
been  a  thousand  times  right  in  not  shrinking.  The  arrest 
of  those  members  of  the  Maryland  Legislature  who  were 
preparing  to  vote  for  secession,  and  had  extended  the 
hand  to  Beauregard,  will  never  be  brought  as  a  reproach 
against  General  Banks.  But  other  acts  would  be  less 
easy  to  justify. 

It  will  be,  above  all,  at  the  hour  of  decisive  success, 
which  will  strike  ere  long,  I  hope,  that  we  shall  be  able 
to  judge  American  policy.  Then  will  be  propounded  the 
problems  of  pacification,  more  important  and  more  diffi 
cult  perhaps  than  the  problems  of  the  struggle.  Then 
the  question  will  be  to  give  a  contradiction  to  those  who 
announce  that  the  North,  incapable  of  adopting  the  glo 
rious  solution  furnished  it  by  liberty,  can  only  enter  that 
wretched  path  of  punishment,  reprisal  and  distrust  which 
leads  straight  to  military  despotism.  Already,  it  is  urged 
in  this  direction ;  it  is  put  on  its  guard  against  the  senti 
ments  of  "  false  generosity  and  false  pity"  which  would 
spare  the  principal  leaders  of  the  rebellion  ;  it  is  insisted 
that  there  shall  be,  at  the  end  of  the  struggle,  a  certain 
number  of  exemplary  punishments.  If  it  were  proposed 
to  render  those  men  interesting  who  are  for  from  being 
so  at  present,  and  to  preserve  the  germ  of  new  insurrec 
tions,  this  would  be  marvellously  well  adapted  to  the  pur 
pose.  In  the  sequel  of  civil  wars,  we  never  lack  good 
reasons  for  erecting  the  scaffold,  and  publishing  amnesties 
studded  with  exceptions.  Beware !  these  amnesties,  the 
public  conscience  calls  lists  of  proscription.  It  does  not 
like  courts  of  justice  to  be  convoked  on  the  morrow  of 
the  battle ;  in  its  opinion,  the  decrees  rendered  there  by 


344  TO    AMERICANS. 

the  conqueror  always  resemble  vengeance  more  than 
justice.  How  glorious  it  would  be  to  conquer  one's  self 
after  having  conquered  the  South  !  Pardon  for  all,  lib 
erty  for  all,  equality  of  right  for  all,  this  is  the  vengeance 
of  the  North.  It  seems  as  though  the  greatness  of  the 
part  were  fitted  to  tempt  it. 

As  to  the  proceedings  which  have  hitherto  accom 
panied  the  war,  it  must  be  recognized  in  full  justice  that 
they  do  honor  to  America.  I  except  the  Confiscation 
Bills.  That  of  the  North  is  only  a  reprisal,  I  am  aware  ; 
the  South,  not  content  with  confiscation,  has  decreed  the 
non-payment  of  debts.  But  if  the  South  adopt  odious 
measures,  is  it  a  reason  for  the  North  to  do  as  much  f 

I  hasten  to  add,  that  it  has  not  done  as  much.  The 
South  has  gone  so  far  as  to  prescribe  the  general  confisca 
tion  of  property  possessed  in  its  territory  by  Northern 
citizens.  Numerous  deputations  having  insisted  with  Mr. 
Lincoln  that  the  North,  in  turn,  should  confiscate  all 
property  within  its  limits  belonging  to  Southern  citizens, 
the  President  opposed  the  measure.  "  But  they  do  it  on 
their  side,"  it  was  objected. — "  If  they  think  themselves 
free  to  commit  an  act  of  injustice,"  the  president  replied, 
"  I  have  neither  the  right  nor  the  wish  to  do  so." 

The  war,  whatever  may  have  been  said  of  it,  has  not 
for  a  moment  borne  the  character  of  cruelty.  In  spite  of 
the  principles  which  seemed  opposed  to  it,  the  United 
States  have  not  once  treated  as  rebels,  prisoners  taken 
with  arms  in  their  hands;  the  privateers  themselves  have 
been  spared. 

Upon  the  whole,  there  has  been  fighting,  but  the  hor 
rors  which  have  hitherto  polluted  civil  wars,  have  been 
avoided  with  care.  Exchanges  of  prisoners  are  made 
daily;  many  obtain  their  liberty  on  parole.  The  pro 
gressive  invasion  of  the  States  is  marked  neither  by  de- 


MAINTENANCE    OF    INSTITUTIONS*  345 

vastation  nor  pillage.  Mildness  has  been  carried  BO  far  as 
to  commute  the  death  penalty  pronounced  in  Missouri 
against  the  wretches  who,  by  burning  railroad  bridges,  had 
caused  the  death  of  numerous  men,  women,  and  children. 
Lastly,  since  the  commencement  of  hostilities,  the  scaffold 
— mark  well  this  fact — has  not  yet  been  erected  a  single 
time  by  the  North.  After  the  taking  of  Fort  Sumter, 
when  treason  was  everywhere  ;  after  Bull  Run,  when  the 
enemy  was  marching  on  Washington,  the  United  States 
had  no  days  of  September. 

The  South  is  far  from  having  shown  the  same  modera 
tion.  The  terror  which  has  reigned  in  its  bosom  for 
years  lias  become  still  more  violent.  The  vigilance  com 
mittees  there  have  done  their  well-known  work ;  we 
know  from  the  letters  of  Mr.  Russell,  that  battalions  pro 
ceeding  toward  the  North,  bear  before  them  a  cofnn  on 
which  "  Abraham  Lincoln  "  is  inscribed  in  large  letters. 
As  to  the  war,  that  of  the  extreme  West,  pursued  with 
the  aid  of  Indians  and  pillagers,  has  shrunk  neither  from 
conflagration  nor  more  detestable  atrocities. 


.- 


It  is  important  to  us  all  that  the  American  institutions 
come  out  intact  from  the  trial.  The  solidarity  which  to 
day  unites  all  peoples  is  so  great,  that  nowhere  can  any 
question  be  agitated  to  which  we  may  say  that  we  are 
strangers.  It  is  our  own  business  that  is  in  question ;  it 
is  the  house  of  our  neighbor  that  is  burning,  paries  prox- 
imus  ardet. 

Republic  and  monarchy  aside,  the  whole  world  is  in 
terested  in  the  issue  of  the  debate.  The  success  of 
America  would  be  a  decisive  argument  in  favor  of  liberty. 
If  liberal  institutions  come  out  victorious  from  a  tempest 
where  many  hoped  to  see  them  perish,  if  it  happen  for 
the  first  time  that  a  civil  war  ends  without  establishing 


346  TO    AMERICANS. 

an  exceptional  system  and  an  excessive  concentration  of 
power,  will  this  be  nothing  ?  Not  only  is  the  abolition 
of  slavery  a  prodigious  deed,  made  to  honor  our  century, 
and  the  influence  of  which  will  make  itself  felt  afar,  but 
other  problems  propounded  in  the  New  World  will  now 
be  happily  resolved  without  profit  to  Europe.  We  are 
drifting  toward  democracy  ;  is  it  indifferent  to  us  to 
know  (what  is  not  yet  demonstrated)  whether  it  accords 
with  liberty  ?  We  are  struggling  under  the  embarrassment 
of  the  Roman  question ;  that  is,  of  establishing  relations 
between  the  churches  and  the  state ;  shall  we  learn 
nothing  on  the  day  that  we  see  how  much  the  victory  of 
the  American  Government  has  been  facilitated  by  the 
fact  that  it  has  not  had  to  trouble  itself  about  the  churches, 
and  that  the  political  conflict  could  not  become  compli 
cated  with  a  religious  one  ? 


CHAPTER  HI. 

ABOLITION    OF   SLAVERY. 

I  DO  not  wish  to  repeat  what  I  have  said  elsewhere, 
but  to  sum  up  in  a  few  words  the  results  of  our  study  on 
this  essential  point. 

What  is  henceforth  important  is,  not  that  abolition 
maybe  effected — this,  no  one  can  prevent ;  but,  that  it  may 
be  by  the  desire  of  the  American  Government.  To  know 
one's  duty  is  sometimes  more  difficult  than  to  do  it ;  now, 
the  duty  of  the  United  States  is  not  perhaps  as  yet  suffi 
ciently  known  to  them.  They  have  comprehended  and 
accepted  the  necessity  of  arresting  the  extension  of 
slavery ;  it  remains  for  them  to  comprehend  and  accept 
the  necessity  of  abolishing  it ;  that  is,  of  taking  measures 
immediately  for  this  end.  Without  in  any  manner  mak 
ing  an  abolition  war,  without  arming  the  negroes,  without 
making  a  change  of  front  which  would  divide  the  Xorth 
and  alarm  the  Border  States,  the  American  Government 
may  fully  pave  the  way  for  the  decisive  struggle  which 
alone  can  give  to  the  present  crisis  the  character  of  a 
crisis  of  uprising.  Slavery,  as  the  great  enemy  and  ob 
stacle  to  reconciliation,  should  receive  its  death  blow. 


348  TO   AMERICANS. 

Let  its  slow  and  progressive  extinction  be  proclaimed — 
this  is  natural ;  let  an  indemnity  be  accorded — this  is  ex 
cellent  policy  ;  but  let  no  half-way  measures  be  adopted. 
Half-way  measures  embitter  ;  thorough  measures  have  in 
themselves  a  tranquillizing  power.  The  South  itself  seems 
to  have  been  willing  to  prepare  the  way  for  this  great  re 
form — in  causing  offers  of  progressive  emancipation,  more 
or  less  in  earnest,  to  be  presented  to  Europe,  the  South 
has  taken  away  from  the  most  timorous  minds  and  the 
most  dismayed  interests  of  the  Free,  or  the  Border  States, 
the  right  to  be  scandalized,  when  Mr.  Lincoln  shall  ac 
complish  against  the  rebellion  what  Mr.  Davis  proposed 
to  accomplish  for  it. 

Honest  men  will  not  be  lacking,  when  the  hour  of  great 
successes  shall  have  struck,  to  entreat  Mr.  Lincoln  to  do 
nothing.  To  abstain,  seems  always  the  height  of  wisdom  ; 
it  is  sometimes  the  height  of  folly.  To  abstain,  in  certain 
cases,  is  to  act.  If,  contrary  to  all  appearances,  Congress 
and  the  President  should  put  an  end  to  the  rebellion  with 
out  putting  an  end  to  slavery  ;  if  the  cause  of  the  evil 
should  survive,  America  would  not  be  long  in  paying 
dearly  for  such  an  error. 

Until  now,  I  have  comprehended  all  the  circumspec 
tion  used  ;  I  shall  still  comprehend  it  in  the  future.  Re 
serve  action  for  time,  put  aside  abrupt  and  violent  sys 
tems,  but,  in  Heaven's  name,  be  resolved,  and  do  not 
leave  the  enemy  in  possession  of  the  field. 

This  enemy  will  be  no  longer  what  it  has  been,  that  is 
certain  ;  slavery  can  no  longer  set  itself  up  as  master  ;  it 
will  remain  on  the  defensive.  Is  this  a  reason,  however, 
for  not  demanding  that  the  Southern  States,  in  due  form 
of  law,  shall  give  their  assent,  without  delay,  to  abolition  ? 
Otherwise,  what  fatal  agitation  will  ensue  both  in  the 
South  and  the  Border  States !  What  an  obstacle  to 


ABOLITION.  349 

true  union,  the  tranquillizing  of  minds  and  the  fusion  of 
interests  ! 

It  would  be  to  keep  up  irritation,  to  maintain  antag 
onism,  to  necessitate  military  occupation,  lastingly  to 
prevent  American  institutions,  and  to  secure  before  long 
the  renewal  of  the  rebellion,  to  set  to  work  in  any  other 
way.  There  will  be  in  the  South  neither  the  immigra 
tion  of  free  labor,  nor  the  formation  of  a  middle  class,  nor 
the  definitive  fall  of  the  violent  party,  until  the  principle 
of  abolition  shall  be  laid  down  in  terms  that  will  permit 
of  no  return.  Then,  only,  the  aspect  of  things  will  change ; 
the  raising  of  negroes  will  have  an  end  ;  deprived  at  once 
of  the  domestic  and  foreign  slave  trade,  slavery  will  van 
ish,  the  problem  will  be  resolved.  Then,  too,  will  be 
produced  the  so  much  contested  unity  and  homogeneous- 
ness  of  the  American  people. 

What  has  been  the  question  during  the  past  year? 
To  know  whether  slavery  will  kill  the  Union,  or  whether 
the  Union  will  kill  slavery.  That  Mr.  Lincoln  may  be 
convinced  of  it,  God  will  hold  closed  all  the  avenues  that 
lead  to  peace,  until  justice  shall  be  satisfied.  Durable 
peace,  peace  worthy  of  the  name,  peace  which  a  second 
time  will  found  the  United  States,  this  peace  the  Amer 
ican  people  cannot  taste  until  it  has  first  nobly  and  abso 
lutely  done  its  duty. 

This  will  take  place,  whether  the  Union  be  established, 
or  the  separation  of  a  few  States  be  accepted.  Yes,  even 
in  assuming  this  last,  painful  hypothesis,  we  shall  not 
have  to  doubt  the  uprising  of  the  United  States. 

America  will  remain  one  of  the  most  powerful  nations 
of  earth.  Resolutely  resigning  itself,  and  turning  its  gaze 
within,  it  will  consecrate  itself  to  a  glorious  work.  To 
complete  the  abolition  of  slavery  within  its  own  borders, 


350  TO    AMERICANS. 

to  suppress  all  traces  of  dictatorship,  to  reestablish  the 
free  workings  of  its  institutions,  to  return  to  material 
prosperity,  to  a  prosperity  better  than  the  former — this 
would  be  no  insignificant  enterprise. 

Many  men  less  confident  than  myself,  are  obstinate  in 
believing  that  so  long  as  separation  does  not  take  place, 
the  amalgamation  of  principles  will  subsist.  They  wish 
the  North  to  constitute  a  purely  abolition  State.  They 
think  this  the  only  means  of  dissolving  the  democratic 
party,  and  destroying  the  thought  of  compromise.  It 
seems  to  them,  that,  slavery  being  concentrated  on  one 
side  and  liberty  on  the  other,  it  would  be  to  the  advan 
tage  of  every  one.  The  constitutional  transformation 
which  abolition  supposes,  might  be  accomplished  with  the 
majorities  required  by  the  compact ;  every  thing  would 
go  on,  therefore,  in  a  more  regular  and  surer  manner. 

I  comprehend  this  point  of  view,  which  is  not  my  own. 
Once  more,  if  the  question  were  to  choose  between  Union 
without  abolition,  and  abolition  without  Union,  I  would 
vote  for  the  latter,  certain  that  it  alone  could  accord  with 
the  honor  and  greatness  of  the  United  States.  The  mis 
erable  Union  which  would  be  purchased  by  an  act  of 
cowardice,  would  not  be  worth  the  trouble  of  picking 
up ;  it  would  tarnish  the  cause  of  America,  and  com 
promise  its  future. 

To  decrease  materially  and  increase  morally  is  not  to 
decrease.  This  people  would  uprise — this  people,  which 
would  no  longer  represent  any  thing  but  liberty,  this  peo 
ple,  which  would  have  affranchised  its  institutions  and 
policy,  and  which,  surrounded  by  universal  esteem,  would 
advance  with  the  Divine  blessing  toward  its  noble  des 
tinies.  It  would  consecrate  itself  to  the  fruitful  work  of 
abolition  in  the  Border  States,  it  would  give  to  the  Bor 
der  States  that  unexampled  prosperity  which  they  will 


ABOLITION.  351 

enjoy,  the  day  that  they  shall  be  penetrated  by  free  labor  ; 
it  would  give  to  the  prosperity  of  the  Border  States  the 
lesson  of  the  wretched  and  fallen  South. 


Its  first  duty  is  its  first  interest.  It  finds  itself  in  one 
of  those  privileged  positions,  where  the  apparent  discords 
of  politics  and  morality  become  effaced,  one  after  the 
other.  It  is  about  to  be  judged  by  its  acts,  not  its  words. 
Now,  let  us  confess  it,  if  its  acts  have  often  been  good, 
they  have  not  always  been  so.  Abolition  will  be  effected. 
Of  that  I  have  no  doubt,  but  the  conduct  of  the  North 
toward  the  free  colored  race  is  as  yet  little  modified  ;  it 
remains  as  a  cruel  contradiction,  which  the  North  gives 
in  person  to  its  speeches  against  slavery.  These  live 
hundred  thousand  men,  who  endure  there  the  iniquities 
and  outrages  of  which  every  one  is  cognizant,  seem  to  ac 
cuse  of  hypocrisy  the  nevertheless  sincere  declarations  of 
the  orators  of  liberty. 

At  the  door  of  the  meetings  where  Mr.  Sunnier  is  ap 
plauded,  at  the  door  of  the  churches  where  Mr.  Beecher 
eloquently  stigmatizes  slavery,  at  the  door  of  the  journals 
where  the  crime  of  the  South  is  denounced,  the  crime  of 
the  North  remains  standing.  This  is  sad  —  it  should 
change.  Do  you  remember,  citizens  of  America,  do  you  re 
member  the  bitter  speech  ?  "  They  wish  to  be  free,  and 
they  do  not  know  how  to  be  just."  Be  just,  become  just, 
I  entreat  you  !  Compromise  yourselves  sacredly  for  jus 
tice  !  Do  precisely  the  thing  which  costs  you  the  most,  it 
will  be  the  best  in  the  eyes  of  men  as  in  the  eyes  of  God  ! 
I  have  sought  in  your  public  newspapers  for  symptoms 
of  an  indispensable  change,  and,  I  grieve  to  say,  I  have 
not  found  them.  Where  are  the  churches  that  have  set 
the  example  ?  If  there  be  those  which  accept  both  blacks 
and  whites  as  members,  which  open  their  pews  without 


352  TO   AMERICANS. 

distinction  of  color  to  blacks  and  whites,  which  take  dis 
ciplinary  measures  against  whoever  has  been  wanting  in 
respect  to  a  negro — if  there  be  such  churches,  why  do  we 
not  know  of  them  ?  We  are  bound  to  rise  to  the  level  of 
our  cause.  The  cause  of  the  Americans  of  the  North  is 
great ;  they  will  grow,  it  is  inevitable.  In  demanding  of 
the  South  a  colossal  sacrifice  in  the  name  of  the  law  and 
the  gospel,  they  will  feel  that  the  law  and  the  gospel  can 
not  remain  long  disregarded  by  themselves. 

The  law  and  the  gospel  are  still  disregarded,  and  to  a 
point  of  which  we  can  with  difficulty  form  an  idea.  Who 
would  believe  that,  in  the  present  year  of  1862,  the  con 
vention  charged  with  revising  the  constitution  of  Illinois, 
entertained  a  proposition  designed  to  banish  all  negroes 
from  the  State  ?  This  infamous  proceeding  was  of  course 
rejected;  but,  I  scarcely  dare  say  it,  twenty-one  votes  were 
found  in  its  support.  Twenty-one  citizens  of  a  free  State, 
in  spite  of  the  law,  Christianity,  and  the  commonest  rules 
of  humanity,  wished  this,  supported  this  !  I  knew  well 
that  the  prejudice  of  color  reigned  above  all  in  the  West, 
I  was  not  ignorant  of  the  geographical,  political,  and  so 
cial  reasons  which  served  as  its  basis, — nevertheless,  I 
would  have  never  imagined  that  it  could  go  so  far  as 
this,  at  the  very  hour  in  which  it  was  combating  the  cot 
ton  States,  which  had  rebelled  in  the  name  of  slavery,  at 
the  very  hour  when  it  laid  claim,  with  reason,  to  the  sym 
pathies  of  Europe. 

There  is  a  whole  past  of  infamy  to  repudiate  in  the 
North,  and  I  consider  it  a  duty  to  say  something  respect 
ing  it. — We  will  lay  aside  every  thing  exceptional,  the 
sale  of  lots  in  certain  cemeteries,  with  this  condition,  pub 
licly  expressed :  "  No  colored  persons  will  be  buried 
here  ; "  the  violent  and  unpunished  demolition  of  an  es 
tablishment  for  higher  instruction,  founded  in  New  Hamp- 


ABOLITION.  353 

shire, — an  establishment  sanctioned  by  the  legislature, 
and  which  proposed  to  receive,  without  distinction,  youths 
of  the  white  and  the  colored  race.  We  will  content  our 
selves  with  once  more  recalling  the  fact  (such  things  can 
not  be  too  often  denounced)  that  in  the  greater  part  of 
the  churches  white  men  alone  are  admitted,  that,  if  a 
small  space  be  reserved  near  the  door  for  colored  persons, 
they  cannot  occupy  any  other  place  without  being  imme 
diately  expelled,  and  that  it  is  taken  very  ill  if  they  ap 
proach  the  communion — yes,  the  communion — before  the 
whites  have  partaken  of  the  sacrament.  Let  a  colored 
woman  go  to  a  watering  place  on  account  of  her  health  ; 
as  soon  as  she  approaches  the  spring,  the  cup  is  snatched 
from  her  hand,  and  she  is  threatened  with  ill  treatment 
if  she  dare  return.  Let  another  enter  a  public  vehicle  ; 
she  will  lind  wretches  there  to  take  her  by  the  throat  and 
forcibly  eject  her;  and,  what  is  most  serious, — for  there 
are  cowards  every  where — the  courts  will  refuse  to  re 
ceive  her  complaint,  on  the  ground  that  her  presence  has 
shocked  the  public  sentiment.  It  is  said  that  there  is  a 
vehicle  to  be  seen  to-day  in  the  streets  of  Xew  York, 
bearing  the  significant  inscription,  "  Colored  persons  al 
lowed  in  this  car." 

What  is  to  be  said  of  the  decisions  taken  in  Ohio  and 
Illinois,  sometimes  to  hamper  the  settling  of  colored  men 
on  the  territory  of  the  State,  sometimes  to  expel  the 
greater  number,  sometimes  to  dispute  to  them  even  the 
exercise  of  the  right  of  petition  ?  I  will  not  dwell  on 
these  acts,  which  are  already  of  ancient  date,  and  which 
doubtless  would  not  be  renewed  to-day.  Still  less  would 
I  wi>h  to  expatiate  on  the  monstrous  doctrines  which,  sev 
eral  times,  have  authorized  all  colored  men,  condemned  to  a 
fine  which  they  were  unable  to  pay,  to  be  put  up  for  sale. 
This  belongs  to  ancient  history,  not  so  ancient,  however, 


354  TO   AMERICANS. 

that  it  may  not  be  useful  to  meditate  on  at  the  present 
time.  The  proposition  which  was  discussed  the  other 
day  in  Illinois  proves  that  progress  on  this  point  is  effected 
with  lamentable  slowness. 

A  number  of  Northern  States  might  be  cited  which 
refuse  to  colored  men  the  quality  of  citizens,  which  refuse 
them  in  fact  the  exercise  of  political  rights,  which  do  not 
even  accept  their  testimony  in  law.  The  example  given 
by  New  York,  which,  in  1857,  constitutionally  proclaimed 
complete  equality,  has  not  been  generally  followed.  Other 
States,  I  will  cite  Pennsylvania,  seem  rather  to  retrograde. 

Such  is  the  crime  of  the  North.  And  let  no  one  seek 
to  extenuate  it  by  saying  that  the  South  carries  much  fur 
ther  the  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  free  colored  race. 
The  champions  of  liberty  have  different  obligations  and 
different  responsibilities,  I  presume,  from  the  defenders 
of  slavery.  Yes,  the  South  refuses,  much  more  than  the 
North,  to  accept  the  testimony  of  men  of  color.  Yes? 
the  South,  not  content  with  debarring  them  the  entrance 
to  the  common  schools,  does  not  usually  permit  them  to 
have  schools  of  their  own.  Yes,  the  South  goes  so  far  as 
to  reduce  free  negroes  to  slavery  ;  here,  because  they 
have  married  persons  of  the  white  race,  there,  because 
they  have  given  refuge  to  a  fugitive,  in  another  place,  for 
the  sole  fact  that  they  have  taken  the  liberty  to  remain  in 
the  State  after  their  emancipation,  or  because  they  have 
passed  through  it.  But,  once  more,  the  enormities  of 
the  South  do  not  excuse  those  of  the  North. 

I  have  hastened  to  place  by  the  side  of  these  detesta 
ble  facts,  other  facts  which  show  that  the  North  is  begin 
ning  to  be  disquieted  at  its  crime,  and  that,  if  its  progress 
be  slow,  much  too  slow,  notwithstanding,  it  is  not  abso 
lutely  void. 

The  proposition  made  in  the  last  Message  will  be  first 


ABOLITION.  355 

remembered — two  black  republics  for  the  first  time,  will 
have  representatives  at  Washington  !* 

It  is  known,  next,  that  a  colored  man,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Garnett,  has  received  a  formal  passport  from  the  Secre 
tary  of  State,  which  recognizes  him  as  an  American  citizen, 
contrary  to  the  usage  established  hitherto,  contrary  to 
the  opinion  expressed  by  the  Supreme  Court  under  the 
presidency  of  Mr.  Buchanan. 

A  colored  lawyer  has  been  recently  admitted  as  a 
member  of  the  bar  in  Boston.  lie  is  the  third,  moreover, 
who  pleads  thus,  on  a  footing  of  equality  with  the  whites, 
in  the  courts  of  this  city. 

If  the  West  in  general  is  still  ruled  by  the  unworthy 
prejudice  of  color,  New  England,  accustomed  to  generous 
initiatives,  applies  more  and  more  the  principle  of  human 
equality  ;  usually,  she  has  no  black  schools  ;  her  colored 
children  are  not  set  apart.  Let  us  add,  that  they  dis 
tinguish  themselves  by  their  progress,  and  that  it  often 
happens  that  they  are  the  first  in  their  class.  The  Rev. 
Mr.  Fiscli,f  of  whom  I  borrow  this  detail  with  several 
others,  relates  that  he  questioned  these  children  on  the 
geography  of  France.  "They  pointed  out  to  me  the 
course  of  our  rivers,"  says  he,  "  better  than  is  ordinarily 
done  in  our  own  schools.  There  are  not  many  Parisian 
children  who  know  much  about  the  Susquehanna,  Dela 
ware,  and  Chesapeake.  I  have  heard  young  negresses  ex 
plain  the  laws  of  gravitation,  and  point  out  the  diameter, 
gravity  and  distance  from  the  earth  of  the  different  plan 
ets.  In  the  colored  Academy  at  Philadelphia,  founded 

*  Let  us  hope  that  Hayti  will  not  entertain  the  strange  idea  of  permit 
ting  herself  to  be  represented  by  a  white  man.  This  has  been  pretended, 
but  I  will  not  believe  it. 

f  See  the  series  of  articles  which  he  published  in  the  Revue  Chre- 
tienne  after  his  visit  to  the  United  States. 
16 


3,56  TO    AMERICANS. 

by  the  Quakers,  I  have  asked  young  girls  to  construe  for 
me  at  sight  a  portion  of  the  ^Eneid.  I  have  done  the 
same  with  the  Greek  Testament." 

The  country  which  has  opened  the  mixed  schools  of 
New  England,  the  country  which,  in  a  less  liberal  thought, 
has  founded  the  colored  schools  of  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York, — this  country  will  learn  ere  long  the  respect  due 
to  man,  whatever  may  be  the  color  of  his  skin.  It  is  not 
the  future  that  disquiets  me,  but  the  present ;  I  am  jeal 
ous  of  the  honor  of  the  United  States,  and  I  wish  that 
they  themselves,  on  the  spot,  by  a  generous  impulse, 
might  place  the  reform  of  the  North  by  the  side  of  the 
denunciation  of  the  crime  of  the  South. 

Never  was  a  moment  more  serious.  After  the  politi 
cal  crisis,  after  the  military  crisis,  after  the  commercial 
crisis,  the  crisis  of  success  may  suddenly  supervene.  Then 
will  be  the  time  when  men  will  intrigue  and  embroil 
questions  to  their  hearts'  content;  then  will  be  the  time 
when  evil  counsels  will  crowd  in,  from  within  and  without, 
from  America  and  Europe.  Therefore  I  am  far  from 
saying,  like  some  persons,  that  it  is  henceforth  useless 
to  lay  down  principles,  to  examine  the  line  of  conduct 
to  be  held,  and  to  study  problems.  Material  triumph, 
supposing  it  complete,  will  resolve  nothing  by  itself.  The 
internal  and  external  dangers  will  all  subsist,  to  appear 
again  to-morrow,  next  year,  who  knows?  if  the  true  solu 
tions  be  not  immediately  applied.  Yes,  to-day  it  is  ne 
cessary  to  look  backward,  to-day  it  is  necessary  to  collect 
one's  thoughts,  to-day,  it  is  necessary  to  take  account  of 
the  real  nature  of  the  conflict,  to  day  it  is  necessary  to 
tell  the  truth  to  the  whole  world,  the  truth  which  alone 
raises  anew  and  cures. 

After  so  many  hopes  fallen  one  by  one,  the  friends  of 


ABOLITION.  357 

the  South  still  preserve  two,  to  which  they  cling  in  des 
pair  ibr  their  cause.  They  would  like,  in  case  that  the 
Union  be  reestablished,  at  least  to  maintain  slavery  ;p  that 
is  to  say,  the  cause  of  discord,  that  is  to  say,  the  chance 
of  a  new  rebellion,  attempted  under  better  auspices  ;  they 
would  like,  above  all,  to  persuade  Europe  that  the  Union 
will  not  be  reestablished. 

Have  they  not  dared  announce  to  us  even  now  that 
amicable  separation  was  about  to  be  accomplished  ?  Have 
not  several  members  of  the  English  Parliament,  Earl 
Russell  himself,  declared  that  before  two  months,  wo 
may,  perhaps,  see  the  North  admit  the  independence  of 
the  South  ? — Every  thing  is  possible,  I  grant  ;  but  this  is 
the  least  possible  thing  that  could  be  imagined.  It  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  the  victories  of  the  North  will 
result  in  the  complete  victory  of  the  pretensions  of  the 
South.  This  rumor  is,  doubtless,  but  a  last  consolation 
which  those  give  themselves  who,  for  a  year,  have  not 
ceased  to  build  all  their  plans  on  the  definitive  character 
of  Southern  secession. 

As  to  compromises,  as  to  the  political  weakness  which, 
in  order  to  win  back  the  South,  would  avoid  touching  the 
question  of  slavery,  I  have  already  said  what  were  the 
reasons  for  fearing  as  well  as  for  being  reassured.  Cer 
tain  so-called  moderate  counsels  always  make  themselves 
easily  welcomed ;  but,  on  the  other  side,  the  American 
opinion  is  formed,  and  the  great  enemy  is  henceforth 
known.  It  is  now  almost  impossible  to  spare  it. 

The  peril  would  be  especially  grave,  if  the  idea  of 
calling  a  convention,  and  thus,  with  the  South,  recon 
structing  the  general  Constitution,  should  succeed  in 
gaining  admission.  I  like  to  believe  that  Mr.  Lincoln  will 
put  aside  with  a  firm  hand  these  revolutionary  proceed 
ings.  He  has  struggled  for  the  Constitution,  why  not 


358  TO    AMERICANS. 

maintain  the  Constitution  ?  Would  it  not  be  glorious  to 
arrive  at  the  end  of  this  formidable  career  without  hav 
ing  modified  the  programmes  of  the  beginning  ?  Here  is 
the  Constitution  ;  it  is  reestablished,  or  rather,  it  con 
tinues  to  impose  its  laws  in  spite  of  every  thing,  and  to 
the  advantage  of  every  one.  No  extraordinary  power, 
convention  or  any  other,  has  been  put  in  action ;  the 
independence  of  the  States,  self-government  remains 
standing. 

A  plan  is  recommended  at  this  moment,  in  the  name 
of  some  of  the  principal  leaders  of  the  abolition  party, 
which  would  overthrow  the  Constitution,  destroy  the 
independence  of  the  States,  and  pave  the  way  for  central 
despotism.  To  suppress  the  States  which  have  taken 
part  in  the  rebellion,  to  organize  and  govern  them  like 
territories,  such  is  the  means  which  it  is  sought  to  adopt 
in  order  more  rapidly  to  abolish  slavery. 

I  do  not  believe  that  abolition  would  gain  much  by 
being  effected  too  quickly.  The  essential  point  is  that  it 
be  effected,  and  that  the  principle  be  laid  down  irrevoca 
bly.  It  would  be  easy  to  attain  this  end  by  scrupulously 
remaining  within  the  limits  of  constitutional  orthodoxy, 
by  using  only  the  right  which  the  preceding  sessions  of 
Congress  have  used  themselves,  by  respecting  (this  com 
prises  every  thing)  the  boundary  which  separates  the 
political  and  general  action  of  the  nation  from  the  local 
and  administrative  action  of  the  States.  Independently 
of  the  acts  which  may  be  accomplished  during  the  war 
according  to  the  terms  of  the  doctrine  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  important  measures  can  and  should  be  voted. 

For  this  decisive  act,  there  will  be  a  single  hour,  the 
value  of  which  will  be  beyond  appreciation,  and  by  which 
the  United  States  will  doubtless  know  how  to  profit — it 
is  the  hour  that  will  complete  their  victories.  A  little 


ABOLITION.  359 

sooner  or  a  little  later,  it  will  come,  I  hope ;  I  have  faith 
in  the  final  triumph.  Then,  the  States  who  have  taken 
part  in  the  rebellion,  will  be  still  in  a  state  of  anarchy; 
they  will  not  yet  have  elected  representatives  to  the 
Congress  at  Washington.  Their  absence,  for  which  they 
can  accuse  none  but  themselves,  will  secure  to  Mr.  Lin 
coln  the  needful  majority. 

What  is  there  to  prevent  the  adoption,  at  this  moment, 
of  a  series  of  resolutions  designed  definitively  to  settle  the 
fate  of  slavery  V  To  abrogate  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law, 
to  suppress  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  to  inter 
dict  domestic  slave  trade ;  to  decide  that  no  new  slave 
State  shall  be  henceforth  admitted,  and  that  all  the  terri 
tories  shall  belong  to  freedom,  to  offer  lastly  an  indemnity 
to  such  States  as,  within  a  given  time,  shall  decree  pro 
gressive  abolition,*  all  this  is  strictly  constitutional.  This 
is  not  to  say  that  it  would  excite  no  opposition  ;  such 
there  would  be,  perhaps,  even  in  the  Border  States;  the 
passions  of  slavery  are  not  accustomed  to  yield  easily. 
But  it  is  precisely  because  it  may  be  opposed  and  refused, 
that  the  right  of  States  will  be  seriously  respected.  To 
stop  at  this  series  of  measures,  is  to  put  aside  all  violent 
intrusion  into  the  internal  affairs  of  the  South. 

Yet,  notwithstanding,  it  is  to  decide  the  question  as 
well,  or  rather  a  hundred  times  better  than  would  be 
done  by  exceptional  measures.  The  oppositions  will 
fall  one  after  the  other  before  the  irresistible  power  of 
the  movement  which  is  being  wrought.  America  will 
thus  obtain  the  triple  result  of  maintaining  intact  the 

*  If  the  indemnity  be  fixed,  as  was  done  in  Franco  and  England,  at 
about  $200,  it  will  be  a  total  expense  of  $800,000,000,  which,  appor 
tioned  over  twenty  years,  will  impose  on  each  year  a  burden  of  $20,- 
000,000.  Never  will  expense  more  glorious  or  more  productive  have 
been  entered  in  any  budget ! 


.360  TO    AMERICANS. 

institutions  in  the  name  of  which  it  has  combated,  of 
securing  the  at  once  prudent  and  certain  extinction  of 
slavery,  and  of  solidly  founding  the  Union. 

I  do  not  pretend,  of  course,  to  draw  up  such  a  pro 
ject  ;  such  audacity  would  ill  befit  me.  I  have  been  only 
desirous  to  show  that  the  United  States  are  not  reduced 
to  choose  between  the  subversive  plan  projected  by  an 
extreme  party,  and  the  complete  letting  alone  of  another 
party  no  less  extreme,  composed  of  old  democrats  and 
the  citizens  of  the  Border  States. 

These  last  go  on  repeating  that  slavery  will  fall  if  no 
one  meddles  with  it.  This  is  true  to  a  certain  point,  but 
it  is  essential  to  meddle  with  it.  Do  not  be  too  sure  that 
the  war  has  resolved  the  question,  that  the  party  con 
quered  with  arms  in  hand  will  be  also  conquered  politi 
cally,  that  the  country  now  will  be  governed  in  the 
interest  of  liberty,  that  things  will  go  on  as  it  were  of 
themselves,  that  detestable  laws  wrill  be  no  longer  execu 
ted,  that  the  institutions  of  the  South,  without  protection 
and  without  future,  will  die  a  natural  death.  I  recognize 
all  this,  I  know  that  it  is  given  to  no  one  henceforth 
to  prevent,  whether  by  attempts  at  ignoble  negotiation  or 
by  a  culpable  letting  alone,  the  great  progress  which  is 
about  to  be  accomplished.  Yet,  notwithstanding,  how 
scandalous,  should  there  be  negotiation  or  letting  alone  ! 

It  is  of  importance  to  the  honor  of  America  that  she 
should  herself  draw  the  moral  conclusion  of  this  formid 
able  conflict.  She  wall  have  peace  only  at  this  price ;  she 
will  have  Union  only  at  this  price;  she  will  have  the 
sympathies  of  the  world  only  at  this  price.  And  the  sym 
pathies  of  the  world,  let  her  not  forget,  have  been,  are, 
and  will  be  her  chief  strength. 

At  the  present  time,  facts  are  needed,  decisive  facts, 
which  will  shut  the  mouth  of  the  enemies  of  America. 


ABOLITION.  301 

To  hear  thorn,  the  reestablish ment  of  the  Union  would 
have  no  other  effect  uth;in  to  replace  slavery  under  the 
rcgis  oi'  the  Federal  Constitution."  They  ahvays  return 
to  the  point  of  separation  ;  when  the  United  States  shall 
have  thus  accorded  to  the  rebellion  all  that  it  pretended 
to  obtain,  it  will  be  readily  admitted  that  they  have  cast 
out  of  their  bosom  the  leprosy  of  slavery,  that  they  form 
at  length  a  true  republic  ;  sympathies  will  then  be  ac 
corded  them. 

If  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  I  think,  is  little  disposed  to  accept 
separation,  if  he  cares  little  to  treat  with  rebels,  if  the 
idea  of  a  treaty  concluded  through  the  mediation,  and 
under  the  guarantee  of  Europe  pleases  him  inditl'en-ntly, 
he  is  bound  to  prove  ere  long  that  the  reestablishment  of 
the  Union  will  not  take  place  without  laying  down  in 
fact,  and  much  more  surely  than  all  treaties,  the  principle 
of  progressive  abolition. 

To  attain  this  end,  it  would  be  fitting  perhaps  to  ad 
dress  first  the  Border  States.  In  aiding  emancipation 
among  them,  a  lirst  very  considerable  result  would  be 
obtained,  a  few  of  the  intermediate  would  be  trans 
formed  into  Northern  States ;  they  would  be  attached 
indissolubly  to  the  national  centre,  and  insurrection  and 
slavery  would  be  confined  within  constantly  narrowing 
limits. 

This,  moreover,  could  not  suffice.  As  the  Government 
at  Washington  does  not  propose  to  rectify  the  frontiers 
of  the  free  States,  but  to  reestablish  in  the  slave  States 
the  authority  of  the  common  Constitution,  it  should  think 
also  of  these  last.  They  may  have  to  decide,  in  the 
plenitude  of  their  independence,  between  the  prudent 
abolition  which  would  be  facilitated  to-day  by  the  indem 
nity  promised  by  the  Union,  and  the  formidable  chances 


362  TO    AMERICANS. 

of  a  future  in  which  the  resurrection  of  the  chances  of  the 
slavery  party  can  in  no  event  find  place. 

Thus  conceived,  the  proposition  of  indemnity  would 
answer  to  all  the  necessities  of  the  position  in  America 
and  in  Europe.  It  is  self-evident  that  other  measures  will 
follow  in  the  train  of  the  principal  one ;  it  is  the  essence 
of  a  moral  conflict  such  as  this  to  increase,  do  what  one 
may,  the  moral  power  of  the  Government  and  of  Congress. 
Subtle  interpretations  of  the  Constitution  will  have  small 
chance,  henceforth,  against  the  need  of  suppressing  abom 
inable  infamies  ;  no  one  will  be  persuaded  that  self-gov 
ernment  implies  the  right  to  suppress  marriage  at  one's 
pleasure,  to  destroy  the  family,  to  sell  separately  and 
carry  away  the  father,  mother,  and  children,  any  more 
than  it  implies  the  right  of  the  Mormons  also  to  attack 
the  family  in  their  way,  by  establishing  polygamy. 

The  President  and  Congress  may  therefore  lay  down 
the  principle  of  indemnity,  and  secure  the  approaching 
success  of  progressive  abolition,  without  having  recourse, 
I  trust,  to  those  extreme  acts  of  general  emancipation, 
proclaimed  through  military  power,  which  the  prolonga 
tion  and  exasperation  of  the  struggle  might  bring  about. 
The  independence  of  the  States  will  be  protected  with 
jealous  care.  It  will  be  doubtless  indispensable  to  pro 
vide  for  certain  necessities  which  will  result  from  the 
armed  struggle.  If  the  United  States  win,  they  should 
appoint  provisional  governors,  and  secure  the  working  of 
some  sort  of  an  administration,  while  waiting  till  the 
regular  order  be  reestablished.  The  essential  point  is  that 
this  period  of  transition  be  as  brief  as  possible.  The  pro 
visional  governors  will  have  no  other  mission  than  to 
reorganize  the  insurgent  States,  to  put  again  in  force  the 
national  constitution,  to  administer  the  oath  of  allegiance, 
and  to  reinstate  all  liberties,  including  the  liberty  of  oppo- 


ABOLITION.  363 

sition.  It  is  during  this  time,  which  will  separate  the 
state  of  war  from  the  state  of  completed  reorganization, 
that  Congress,  composed  as  yet  almost  exclusively  of 
Northern  representatives,  will  pass,  I  suppose,  all  the  acts 
destined  to  regulate  the  new  position  of  slavery,  to  resume 
the  healthy  tradition  of  the  fathers  of  the  Republic, — of 
those  illustrious  men,  all  enemies  of  servile  institutions, — to 
exhaust,  lastly,  in  this  end  the  rights  of  the  national  gov 
ernment,  without  doing  violence  to  the  rights  of  the  local 
governments. 

Perhaps  I  should  enter  here  upon  the  study  of  the 
social  problem  which  will  some  day  succeed  the  problem 
of  abolition  ;  but  I  have  made  it  a  rule  unto  myself  not  to 
repeat  in  this  volume  what  I  have  said  in  my  preceding 
work. 

We  are  told  that  emancipation  will  bring  grave  diffi 
culties  in  its  train !  Who  doubts  it  ?  Xo  one  has  yet 
discovered  the  means  of  effect  ing  a  colossal  transforma 
tion  without  suiTering.  I  add,  however,  that  of  all  the 
forms  which  this  inevitable  crisis  may  put  on,  none  is  less 
alarming  than  that  of  a  progressive  abolition  peaceably 
accomplished,  with  the  powerful  assistance  of  an  indemni 
ty,  with  the  still  more  powerful  assistance  of  Northern 
capital  returning  to  give  life  to  Southern  cultures.  Com 
pare  with  this  prospect,  that  of  abolition  violently  accom 
plished  by  war,  or,  if  you  like  better,  that  of  abolition  ac 
complished  willingly  or  unwillingly  by  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  under  outside  pressure.  Here,  all  is  constraint, 
all  is  misery  ; — a  community  subverted,  ruined,  menaced, 
impotent,  forced  unceasingly  to  guard  its  frontiers,  having 
neither  money  nor  hands  to  replace  the  slavery  which  it 
loses.  I  marvel  at  those  who  wish  things  to  go  on  thus, 
who  consider  definitive  separation  as  an  ideal,  and  who 
16* 


364  TO    AMERICANS. 

fancy  in  this  manner  to  serve  the  cause  of  abolition  !  It 
will  be  a  bad  recommendation  to  it  for  men  to  believe 
themselves  authorized  to  say :  "  Abolition  is  effected,  and 
the  South  has  become  a  desert." 

It  will  be  quite  otherwise  with  abolition  wrought  in 
those  conditions  of  vigor,  prosperity,  and  political  health 
— pardon  me  the  expression — which  the  South  will  se 
cure  by  its  return  to  the  Union.  A  great  people  will  be 
there,  with  unceasingly  increasing  resources,  interested  in 
resuscitating  the  cultures  of  the  South.  It  will  then  be- 

O 

come  possible  to  render  healthy  the  swamp  lands,  to  intro 
duce  the  improved  machinery  and  processes  which  will 
facilitate  the  employment  of  European  workmen.  These 
will  come  by  degrees,  while  slavery  itself  will  fall  back  by 
degrees,  furnishing  still  for  a  certain  number  of  years  the 
labor  which  could  not  be  found  immediately  elsewhere, 
and  permitting  the  transition  to  be  managed  with  care.* 

But  let  us  not  delude  ourselves  ;  it  will  be  in  vain  that 
we  surround  affranchisement  with  all  necessary  precau 
tions,  if  the  prejudice  of  color  is  to  subsist  as  it  is.  Af 
franchisement  is  only  the  end  of  the  present  solution  ; 
another  question,  still  graver,  and  upon  which  I  am  anx 
ious  to  dwell,  will  demand  to  be  resolved  in  the  United 
States.  The  question  of  race  will  subsist  there  when  the 
question  of  slavery  is  settled ;  when  America  is  no  longer 
in  error. 

*  I  have  refrained  from  taking  into  account  here  an  element  of  suc 
cess  which  might  be  disputed,  but  which  I  believe  to  be  of  the  highest 
importance.  The  influence  of  the  gospel  among  the  slaves  has  created 
bonds  which  will  be  broken  with  difficulty.  For  the  maintenance  of 
order,  for  the  preservation  of  labor,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference  that 
souls  have  been  moved  by  the  Christian  faith.  The  dispersion  will  also, 
perhaps,  encounter  an  obstacle  in  the  attachment  inspired  in  the  poor  ne 
gro  by  the  church. 


ABOLITION.  365 

To  transform  the  slave  into  a  Pariah  would  be  small 
progress.  The  question  is  not  to  throw  upon  the  side 
walks  of  great  cities  a  multitude  of  unfortunates,  repulsed 
from  honest  occupations,  deprived  of  the  rights  belonging 
to  every  citizen,  condemned,  as  it  were,  to  wretchedness 
and  degradation  ;  the  question  is  no  more  to  undertake 
a  gigantic  deportation,  hurling  violently  on  Africa,  St. 
Domingo,  Florida,  or  some  other  corner  of  the  earth 
reserved  for  them,  and  where  they  will  be  speedily  sub 
jected  to  an  exceptional  regime,  these  four  millions  of 
men,  called  to  liberty. 

Such  a  liberty,  derisive  and  lying,  would  arouse  feelings 
of  universal  reprobation  against  America.  It  is  not 
allowable  to  be  just  by  halves  ;  those  who  do  good  are 
under  the  happy  obligation  of  being  unable  to  stop  on 
the  road,  and  of  going  further  than  they  had  at  first  pro 
jected.  America  is  condemned,  thank  God!  to  go  on 
to  the  end  of  her  glorious  enterprise. 

Enterprises  like  this  succeed  only  by  going  on  to  the 
end.  There,  there  alone,  are  encountered  beneficial 
solutions  ;  there  all  becomes  simple,  because  all  has  be 
come  just.  The  difficulties  will  fall  one  after  the  other 
from  the  day  that  Christian  and  liberal  America  accepts 
all  the  consequences  of  her  principle  ;  from  the  day  that 
she  consents  to  say  :  "  We  are  about  to  apply  henceforth, 
restricting  it  in  nothing,  the  fundamental  dogma  of  our 
constitution  ;  the  time  must  come  when  none  but  free 
men  shall  be  found  among  us,  and  when  all  free  men 
shall  be  truly  equal.  We  have  not  to  trouble  ourselves 
to  know  how  the  free  negro  race  which  will  soon 
be  affranchised  will  be  distributed  over  our  territory. 
Perhaps  it  will  accumulate  in  certain  regions,  perhaps  it 
will  be  gradually  effaced  before  the  waves  of  European 
immigration ;  in  going  where  it  suits  it  to  go,  in  doing 


366  TO    AMERICANS. 

what  it  suits  it  to  do,  it  will  make  use  of  its  right.  The 
respect  of  right  will  be  now  our  policy." 

There  is  but  one  saving  policy ;  it  is  that  which  ac 
complishes  the  decrees  of  justice.  It  is  in  vain  to  cry: 
"On  to  Richmond!"  unless  you  cry  at  the  same  time, 
"On  to  justice!"  Supported  by  these  three  great 
measures,  progressive  abolition,  voluntarily  decreed,  in 
demnity  accorded  to  the  masters,  and  equality  secured  to 
the  affranchised  negroes,  America  will  confound  its  calum 
niators,  and  gain  for  all  humanity  the  greatest  liberal 
contest  of  our  times. 

Once  laid  down  by  it,  the  principle  of  abolition  will 
make  the  tour  of  the  globe.  It  will  visit  Brazil,  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Holland;  it  will  go  to  Liberia,  and  Sierra 
Leone,  to  fortify  these  advance  posts  of  liberty  on  African 
soil;  it  will  penetrate  that  vast  Africa  which  travellers, 
and  above  all,  missionaries,  are  on  the  way  to  discover ; 
it  will  drive  back  the  wretches  who  are  even  now  pursu 
ing  on  the  banks  of  the  White  Nile,  their  cruel  chase  of 
men,  women,  and  little  children ;  it  will  go  unto  Asia, 
unto  the  Mussulman  world,  to  awaken  questions  torpid 
for  centuries. 

The  American  crisis  is  one  of  the  events  of  which  God 
makes  use  to  move  the  world.  No  one  can  tell  where  its 
consequences  will  stop ;  but  we  can  say  from  this  time, 
that  the  United  States,  in  effecting  the  abolition  of  slavery 
within  their  limits,  will  have  done  more  than  England 
herself  for  the  cause  of  affranchisement ;  they  will  have 
given  a  signal  which  all,  whether  willing  or  unwilling, 
will  be  constrained  to  obey.  However  lofty  may  be  thej 
ambition  of  a  great  people,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  ought 
to  be  content  with  this. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

GREATNESS    OF   THE   FUTUBE. 

I  MIGHT  have  elaborated  the  preceding  chapter.  It 
has  seemed  to  me  more  in  conformity  with  the  general 
character  of  this  study,  as  also  with  the  duties  imposed  on 
me  by  my  position  as  a  foreigner,  not  to  present  plans, 
properly  called,  for  the  solution  of  these  two  connected 
problems — the  abolition  of  slavery,  and  the  rules  of  con 
duct  to  be  adopted  toward  the  free  colored  race. 

Of  the  two  problems,  the  second  is  not  the  one  pre 
senting  the  less  difficulties ;  it  will  need  a  heroic  impulse 
of  the  Christian  conscience.  The  prejudice  of  skin  is  so 
closely  interwoven  with  American  manners,  that  even 
colored  men,  they  who  suffer  from  it,  are  not  the  less 
eager  to  obey  it.  When  free  blacks  form  volunteer  regi 
ments  in  the  South,  they  often  observe  the  gradation 
of  shades  with  signiiicant  scrupulousness ;  the  first 
company  is  almost  white,  the  second  a  little  darker,  and 
so  on  to  the  last,  the  soldiers  of  which  arc  as  black  as  jet ; 
no  man  in  the  United  States  cares  to  mingle  with  those 
whose  skin  is  less  transparent  than  his  own. 

As  to  abolition,  the  reader  will  remark  the  care  which 
I  have  taken,  not  to  counsel  any  measure  which  would 


368  TO    AMERICANS. 

not  be  strictly  constitutional.  I  should  have  grossly  con 
tradicted  myself,  if,  after  having  advised  Americans  to 
preserve  their  institutions,  and  resemble  at  the  end  of  the 
struggle  as  nearly  as  possible  what  they  were  in  its  be 
ginning,  I  had  urged  them  to  violate  these  institutions 
themselves  in  their  fundamental  principle.  The  liberty 
of  the  States  is  no  less  important  to  maintain,  than  the 
sovereignty  of  the  nation.  A  rebellion  against  the  Con 
stitution  should  not  be  combated  by  a  rebellion  in  the 
opposite  direction,  and  the  two  original  features  of  the 
American  organization  should  neither  perish  in  the 
furnace  of  civil  war.  It  would  be  glorious  to  see  the 
United  States  come  out  of  it  with  their  local  independence, 
as  well  as  their  civil  unity,  having  left  nothing  but  slavery 
in  the  battle,  like  the  three  young  Jews  of  Babylon,  who 
came  out  of  the  flames  as  they  had  been  thrust  into  them, 
with  the  exception  of  their  chains. 

Let  the  fire  devour  the  chains,  but  nothing  more  !* 

*  I  entreat  those  who  dispute  the  constitutional  character  of  the 
measures  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  chapter,  to  examine  them  in  this 
point  of  view. 

The  offer  of  abolition  with  indemnity  leaves  subsisting  the  independ 
ence  of  the  States  ;  I  need  not  revert  to  it. 

The  abrogation  of  the  bill  of  1850  concerning  fugitive  slaves  may 
legally  take  place,  since  Congress  is  at  liberty  to  revoke  what  it  was  at 
liberty  to  pass.  Until  further  orders,  the  act  of  February  12,  1793,  will 
doubtless  remain,  which,  by  virtue  of  a  stipulation  of  the  Federal  Con 
stitution,  authorizes  the  owners  of  slaves  to  seek  those  who  have  fled,  to 
seize  them  wherever  they  may  find  them,  and  take  them  before  the  magis 
trate.  But  this  act,  as  we  know,  does  not  command  any  public  officer  to 
second  such  pursuit.  It  remained  without  effect  so  long  as  the  detest 
able  bill  of  1850  had  not  come  to  give  it  life  and  force  by  the  creation 
of  special  commissioners,  charged  with  effecting  the  seizure  of  fugitive 
slaves.  Who  will  be  made  to  believe,  after  what  has  just  passed,  that 
the  South  would  have  much  reason  to  complain,  if  an  advantage  were 


GREATNESS  OF  THE  FUTURE.  369 

Thus  will  open  before  the  Union  that  noble  career,  in 
which,  through  obstacles,  through  sacrifices,  through 
victories  over  its  enemies,  and,  above  all,  over  itself,  it  will 
advance  toward  the  greatness  of  the  future.  It  belongs 
to  the  Americans  to  demonstrate  by  irrefutable  proof, 
that  they  are  a  great  people,  and  a  people  on  the  way  to 
uprise. 

withdrawn  from  it  with  which  it  very  well  dispensed  for  fifty-seven  years, 
from  17'.»3  to  1850? 

The  interdiction  of  the  domestic  slave-trade  comes  within  the  powers 
of  Congress.  If  it  has  suppressed  the  African  slave-trade,  it  has  shown 
no  more  hesitation  (as  former  deliberations  prove)  in  regulating  the  con 
ditions  of  the  transportation  of  slaves  in  the  interior.  It  has  even  abol 
ished  the  domestic  slave-track-,  by  an  express  act,  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia.  The  matter  belongs  to  the  National  authority,  not  to  that  of  the 
local  Governments. 

As  to  the  most  important  measure  which  would  close  the  territories 
to  slavery,  its  legality  is  clear  ;  for,  under  the  ancient  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which  exaggerated  beyond  measure  the  independence  of 
the  States,  the  celebrated  ordinance  of  July  13,  1787,  was  decreed.  It 
excluded  slavery  from  all  the  Northwest  territory  ;  it  was  by  virtue  of 
this  ordinance  that  Ohio,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Indiana,  and  Illinois,  were 
preserved  (sometimes,  indeed,  despite  themselves)  from  contact  with  the 
44  peculiar  institution."  The  present  Constitution,  adopted  shortly  after 
the  ordinance  of  July  13,  has  not  diminished  these  supreme  attributes  of 
Congress  ;  Article  IV.  states  explicitly  that  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
dispose  of  the  territories,  and  of  all  other  properties  belonging  to  the 
United  States,  and  to  establish  on  the  subject  all  the  regulations  and 
measures  which  it  may  deem  fitting.  The  sole  exception  to  the  rule  is 
encountered  naturally  in  the  territories  which,  detached  from  the  States 
of  Virginia,  Georgia,  and  Carolina,  were  ceded  by  them  only  on  the  ex 
press  condition  that  Congress,  renouncing  its  normal  right  over  these  ter 
ritories,  should  prohibit  therein  any  measure  opposed  to  slavery. 

Finally,  the  action  of  Congress  being  sovereign  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia,  abolition  can  evidently  be  proclaimed  there  without  in  any  wise 
violating  the  Constitution.  This  is  so  true,  that  this  abolition  has  been 
many  times  discussed,  especially  in  1847,  on  the  proposition  of  Mr. 
Lincoln. 


370  TO   AMERICANS. 

A  great  people !  it  is  said.  Does  it  suffice  to  be 
great  to  occupy  a  great  territory,  to  have  great  clearings, 
great  plantations,  great  banks,  and  great  warehouses  ? 
Do  you  not  see  how  mediocre  every  thing  is  in  America, 
and  how  far  its  hero,  Washington,  brave,  courageous,  and 
sensible  as  he  was,  is  from  equalling  the  stature  of  a  CaBsar 
or  Napoleon  ?  Are  we  to  admire  those  revolutionary 
Puritans,  before  whom  the  conservative  elements  of  so 
ciety  have  disappeared,  one  after  the  other,  and  who  have 
almost  erected  into  an  idol  the  will  of  the  greater  number? 
Does  this  rabble  of  great  cities,  which  burns  now  a  con 
vent  and  then  a  hospital,  do  these  Vigilance  Committees, 
which  apply  Lynch  law,  these  Plug  Uglies,  who  stain  the 
elections  with  blood,  to  suit  their  needs,  afford  subject 
for  panegyrics  ?  Is  levelling  liberty  ?  Does  the  system 
atic  exclusion  of  higher  classes  and  higher  minds  do 
honor  to  the  democracy  of  the  New  World  ?  Do  we 
find  consolation  in  meeting,  here  polygamous  Mormons, 
there  conventions  presided  over  by  women,  in  which  the 
"rights  of  women"  are  expounded,  everywhere  men 
barbed  with  revolvers,  and  ready  to  do  justice  to  them 
selves,  as  is  done  among  the  savages  ? 

It  is  easy  to  frame  an  accusation,  when  we  thus  con 
dense  in  a  single  picture,  all  the  misdeeds  of  a  nation  ; 
what  is  accidental  and  what  is  general,  what  happens  only 
in  a  few  corrupt  cities,  in  which  immigrants  from  our 
Europe  flow  unceasingly,  and  that  which  is  met  in  the 
whole  country ;  finally,  what  takes  place  in  all  democracies, 
and  what  characterizes  that  of  the  United  States.  Is 
this  just  ?  Are  we  to  judge  America  by  what  it  had  be 
come  under  the  yoke  of  the  slavery  party,  and  refuse  to 
see  what  it  is  to-day  ?  Has  not  the  history  of  America 
for  the  past  year  demonstrated  to  the  blindest,  that  a 
great  people  is  found  there  ?  Here  is  a  democracy  which 


GREATNESS  OF  THE  FUTURE.  371 

restrains  itself,  which  governs  itself,  which  never  forgets 
itself  in  the  darkest  days  ;  it  has  massacred  no  one,  it  has 
not  once  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  public  streets,  it  has 
accepted,  followed  and  respected  its  elected  leaders,  it 
lias  guttered  under  the  most  exciting  circumstances,  a 
policy  of  peace  to  be  pursued  toward  Europe.  Where 
we  have  unceasingly  (even  yesterday  again)  predicted 
excesses,  acts  of  violence,  disasters,  lack  of  discipline, 
impotence,  anarchy,  and  bankruptcy,  it  has  known  how 
to  place  order,  firmness,  the  organization  of  armies,  the 
creation  of  a  lleet,  confidence  in  the  public  funds.  What 
it  has  done  lias  been  so  completely,  so  radically  in  opposi 
tion  to  what  had  been  foretold,  that  the  reprinted  corre 
spondence  of  almost  all  our  journals,  relative  to  the  story 
of  events,  would  constitute  at  the  present  time  the  most 
piquant  book  that  could  possibly  be  published. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  is  no  indifferent  matter  ;  in 
proof  of  great  things,  we  may  quote  at  this  time,  what 
ever  may  be  the  result,  the  conduct  of  the  United  States 
since  and  including  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  Our 
Old  World,  always  in  commotion,  unskilful  to  resolve,  I 
know  not  how  many  questions,  in  Turkey,  in  Russia,  in 
Poland,  in  Hungary,  in  Italy, — our  Old  World,  rendered 
sleepless  by  the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope,  is  a  little 
too  hasty,  perhaps,  in  triumphing  over  the  embarrassment 
of  America.  As  I  am  correcting  these  last  proof  sheets, 
I  receive  letters  depicting  the  material  uprising,  the  more 
or  less  tardy,  but,  no  less  certain  consequence  of  the 
moral  uprising.  Let  me  quote  a  few  sentences:  "  It  does 
one  good  to  be  here  at  this  moment.  You  would  enjoy 
it  to  the  full,  could  you  witness  what  is  passing  in  the 
heart  of  this  youthful  and  valiant  nation.  Tried,  afflicted, 
battered  by  storms,  it  is  finally  uprising.  The  week 
that  is  closing  has  intoxicated  us  with  its  numerous  vie- 


372  TO    AMERICANS. 

torics,  every  hour  brings  some  glorious  news.  Traitors 
are  concealing  themselves  or  taking  night ;  the  air  vibrates 
with  joy  as  it  waves  the  thousands  and  thousands  of  flags 
that  float  under  our  beautiful  sky.  Slavery  is  about  to 
disappear ;  it  is  wounded  unto  death." 

I  know  that  vicissitudes  of  fortune  are  possible,  the 
hour  of  reverses  may  yet  arrive.  Notwithstanding,  to 
have  reached  the  present  point,  manly  virtues  were 
needed. 

The  United  States  have  neither  the  capacities  nor  the 
defects  of  old  nations;  they  are  great  in  their  way  and 
not  in  ours.  This  is  what  many  men  in  Europe  will 
neither  understand  nor  pardon.  America  has  the  gift  of 
exciting  among  us  antipathies  which  resemble  hatred. 

I  know  of  but  one  antipathy  which  may  be  compared 
to  this — that  with  which  we  are  inspired  in  general,  and 
through  analogous  reasons,  by  the  English  Puritanism  of 
the  days  of  the  Stuarts.  There  are  men  who  fly  into  a 
passion  at  the  mere  thought  of  a  Puritan.  Tell  them 
neither  of  his  virtues,  nor  his  austerity,  nor  his  courage, 
nor  of  the  thousands  of  men  and  women,  who  for  long 
years,  accepted  the  loss  of  their  goods,  gave  their  lives, 
and  endured  unheard  of  sacrifices;  tell  them  no  more  of 
the  indomitable  firmness  with  which  the  English  liberties 
were  defended,  or  rather  founded.  They  are  determined 
to  ignore  all  this ;  they  must  have  cavaliers,  refined  and 
perverse  courtiers,  brave  with  the  sword  in  hand,  cruel 
and  persecuting  in  all  else.  Charming  debauchees,  care 
less  profligates,  with  a  good  mien  and  grace,  please  them 
a  hundred  times  more  than  honest  people,  rigid,  narro\v, 
and  sullen. 

Let  me  be  understood  rightly.  I  am  of  those  who  think 
that  honest  people  do  wrong  to  be  sullen ;  that  rudeness 


GREATNESS  OF  THE  FUTURE.  373 

is  not  a  merit,  and  that  disagreeable  virtues  are  only  half 
virtues.  I  do  not  praise  the  Roundheads,  far  from  it, 
for  having  anathematized  literature  and  art,  narrowed  the 
human  mind,  introduced  formalities  and  jargons  of  com 
mand,  answered  intolerance  by  intolerance,  and  too  often 
also,  cruelty  by  cruelty  ;  I  certainly  do  not  praise  them 
for  having  ended  at  length  in  Cromwell.  But  under  the 
rough  and  coarse  bark,  under  the  affected  forms,  the 
religious  uniform,  in  spite  of  faults  and  crimes,  beyond 
detestable  leaders  and  hypocritical  imitators,  I  gain  a 
glimpse  of  a  great  thing — a  moral  protest  against  tin- 
infamy,  iniquity,  and  servility,  of  which  the  tine  Cavaliers 
of  the  Stuarts  were  usually  the  living  personification. 

A  strong  and  free  England  has  come  forth  from  this. 
Again,  a  people  which  has  the  very  real  fault  of  not  pos 
sessing  all  tlu'  amiable  and  chivalrous  virtues  ;  again,  a, 
people  which  belongs  to  the  individual  rather  than  the 
sympathetic  races  !  One  might  regret  it,  and  I  regret  it. 
Is  this,  notwithstanding,  a  reason  for  hating,  for  con 
demning  and  rejecting  in  toto,  for  shutting  the  eyes  to 
its  capacities? 

I  have  been  anxious  thus  to  put  the  whole  question  on 
the  subject  of  the  United  States.  The  Americans  are  not 
Englishmen,  no  more  are  they  Puritans;  yet,  nevertheless, 
the  motive  of  our  extreme  aversion,  if  we  wish  to  go  to 
the  bottom,  is  really  that  which  makes  us  oi'ten  prefer 
Cavaliers  to  Roundheads,  and  Russians  to  Englishmen. 

There  is  no  point,  perhaps,  on  which  the  division  of 
the  two  classes  of  minds  which  coexist  here  below  is  pro 
duced  more  clearly.  And  this  is  from  ancient  history. 
I  seem  to  hear  the  declamations  at  Versailles,  in  the  time 
of  him  who  has  been  so  strangely  styled  the  Great  King. 
Change  the  names,  put  the  Americans  instead  of  the 
Dutch,  and  you  have  all  our  antipathies  of  to-day.  We 


374  TO    AMERICANS. 

then  detested  with  all  our  heart,  that  shop-keeping,  re 
publican,  Protestant,  arrogant,  ill-taught  people;  that 
country  of  journals,  discussions,  and  intestine  divisions ; 
those  gross  men,  rebels  but  yesterday,  without  a  past, 
without  monuments  without  fine  arts,  except  their  gro 
tesque  figures  of  porcelain.*  Yet  it  was  found  that  Hol 
land,  nevertheless  at  the  moment  of  perishing,  arrested 
the  fortunes  of  Louis  XIV. ;  it  was  found  that  these  shop 
keepers,  nevertheless  ready  to  sell  their  country  for  a 
few  crowns,  sacrificed  their  property,  opened  the  dykes, 
and  buried  all  Holland  under  the  sea,  in  order  to  save  its 
independence. 

Let  us  signal  out  the  faults  of  the  Americans,  let  us 
unsparingly  condemn  whatever  is  stiff,  harsh,  and  austere 
in  their  manners  ;  they  have  this  vice  and  several  beside. 
I  am  far,  very  far,  from  saying  that  all  among  them  is 
perfect ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  all  is  not  perfect  among 
us,  and  that,  if  it  were  wished  to  paint  us,  portraits  might 
be  made  of  us  too,  which  would  not  be  flattering.  Is  the 
cringing  of  graceful  peoples  of  more  value  than  the  un 
graceful  stiffness  of  angular  peoples  ?  I  need  not  resolve 
the  question.  I  verify  the  fact  that  America  is  one  of 
the  most  moral  and  enlightened  nations  on  earth.  I 
verify  the  fact  that,  if  democratic  levelling  be  detestable, 
America  has  at  least  known  how  to  abstract  from  it 
what  makes  the  man — conscience.  If  certain  acts  of  vio 
lence  have  taken  place,  the  electoral  contest  in  America 
has  almost  always  preserved  complete  liberty:  these 
orators  of  the  different  parties  arriving,  like  princes,  to 
the  sound  of  salutes  of  artillery ;  these  assemblies  of  ten 
thousand,  twenty  thousand  auditors ;  these  vast  questions 

*  I  entreat  the  country  which  has  produced  Powers'  statues,  and 
Church's  landscapes,  to  forgive  me  this  comparison. 


GREATNESS    OF    THE    FUTURE.  375 

in  which  the  fate  of  nations  is  involved,  discussed  from  the 
shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  recesses  of  the  desert — all 
this  is  a  spectacle  which  does  not  lack  majesty. 

And  the  system  of  public  instruction  !  Scarcely  had 
the  first  pilgrims  landed  at  Boston  Bay,  when  schools 
were  established.  Twenty  years  alter,  a  university,  that 
of  Cambridge,  was  opened.  To-day,  there  is  not  a  town, 
not  a  village,  not  a  clearing  which  has  not  provided  for 
the  education  of  youth.  The  support  of  the  schools  swal 
lows  up  one-third  of  the  revenue  of  some  of  the  States. 
The  vocation  of  instructor  is  honored  everywhere.  In 
New  England,  the  first  families  of  the  country  devote 
their  daughters  to  this  career. 

The  Sunday  schools,  comprising  three  million  pupils, 
are  conducted  by  the  voluntary  and  gratuitous  care  of 
four  hundred  thousand  teachers  of  both  sexes,  belonging 
to  all  classes  of  society. 

The  family  worship  is  celebrated  everywhere.  The 
gospel  exercises  an  influence  over  the  entire  country,  the 
scope  of  which  it  would  be  difficult  for  us  to  measure.  To 
form  an  idea  of  it,  one  should  visit  that  quarter  of  Xew 
York  city  known  as  the  Five  Points,  the  alleys  of  which 
remind  one  by  their  names  that  it  was  once  a  den  of 
assassins.  Formerly,  no  one  durst  venture  therein  broad 
daylight !  now  schools  are  established  in  its  heart — spacious 
halls,  resounding  with  the  songs  of  children  snatched  from 
crime  and  misery — and  thousands  of  visitors  of  the  highest 
classes  go  thither  to  carry  aid  and  good  advice  to  families. 

The  Christian  liberality,  which  has  given  six  hundred 
million  francs  to  build  churches,  which  every  year  devotes 
a  hundred  and  twenty  million  francs  to  the  support  of 
worship,  which  furnishes  countless  millions  to  charitable 
and  religious  societies,  which,  even  in  this  moment  of 
crisis  and  suffering,  sends  to  enterprises  in  distress  princely 


376  TO    AMERICANS. 

offerings  of  ten,  a  hundred,  two  hundred  thousand  francs, 
such  liberality  does  not  appear  to  me  a  token  of  decaying 
and  wretched  life.  At  the  present  time,  a  profound 
transformation  is  being  wrought ;  with  the  national  sin, 
other  vices  will  fall ;  the  most  sceptical  will  then  compre 
hend  that  the  American  people  is  a  great  people. 

There  are  those  who  compare  the  United  States  to 
Brazil — a  community  where  every  thing  is  in  motion,  to  a 
community  where  every  thing  is  asleep.  "When  the  polit 
ical  or  moral  character  of  Brazil  has  been  shown  me,  its 
influence  on  earth,  its  literature,  its  scientific  discoveries, 
especially  when  Brazil  has  been  shown  me,  agitating  the 
subject  of  her  slavery,  and  laboring,  at  the  cost  of  gigan 
tic  sacrifices,  to  repair  the  evil  which  it  has  done,  then 
I  will  take  this  burlesque  comparison  in  earnest. 

Meanwhile,  the  United  States  are  going  onward  ;  the 
two  years,  1861  and  1862,  will  mark  their  progress;  in 
two  years,  they  will  have  lived  a  century.  Whatever 
may  happen,  I  think  I  have  proved  that  their  uprising  is 
certain. 

As  regards  the  South  in  particular,  the  problem  of  its 
future  lies  still  before  it.  Hitherto,  it  has  seemed  resolved 
to  perish  ;  the  cotton  production,  already  injured  by  the 
mere  fact  of  the  war,  will  finally  disappear  if  the  slave 
States  refuse  to  suffer  the  liberating  metamorphosis  which 
offers  itself  to  them. 

A  gigantic  displacement  is  on  the  way  to  be  wrought 
— the  cotton  culture,  which  has  been  the  stay  of  slavery 
in  America,  is  about  to  become  in  Asia  and  Africa  an 
instrument  of  liberty.  The  providential  work  which  is 
being  accomplished  in  this  manner  is  one  of  the  most 
glorious  that  mankind  has  ever  witnessed.  To  the  upris 
ing  of  the  United  States,  the  uprising  of  the  Indies,  of 


GREATNESS    OF    THE    FUTURE.  377 

Australia,  of  Xew  Zealand  and  of  the  interior  regions  of 
Africa  will,  perhaps,  respond  in  little  time.  England, 
which  every  year  spins  cotton  enough  to  measure  ten 
times  the  distance  of  the  earth  from  the  moon,  is  making 
prodigious  efforts  at  this  moment  to  break  forever  her 
former  dependence,  and  to  seek  under  other  skies  the 
ra\v  material  which  the  South  has  had  the  privilege  of 
supplying  it  heretofore — India  perhaps  will  lessen  the 
sufferings  of  the  cotton  crisis  for  England,  while  through 
the  cotton  crisis,  England  will  give  ne\v  life  to  India;  and 
the  free  negroes  of  llayti  and  the  Antilles  will  have  their 
share  in  the  prey  which  the  South  lets  escape  it. 

Will  it  let  it  completely  escape?  I  hope  not.  True 
superiority  is  long-lived,  and  American  cotton,  placed  in 
conditions  which  are  not  elsewhere  to  be  found,  will  keep 
its  place,  provided  America  consent.  What  she  needs 
for  this  is  linnly  to  establish  the  principle  of  abolition, 
and  to  call  into  the  South  that  multitude  of  free  laborers, 
that  capital,  that  agricultural  machinery  which  a>ks  only 
to  hasten  thither.  The  experience  of  the  Antilles  proves 
that  the  emancipated  blacks  are  not  at  all  unfit  for  labor; 
the  products  have  been  maintained,  and  even  increased 
among  these  populations  transformed  by  liberty  and 
regenerated  by  the  gospel.  And  also,  at  the  present 
time,  is  it  not  to  the  labor  of  free  negroes  alone  that  the 
Union  intrusts  the  culture  of  the  celebrated  Sea  Island 
cotton,  the  special  product  of  the  suburbs  of  Port  Royal? 

The  transformation  will  be  easier  in  the  cotton  States, 
inasmuch  as  considerable  progress  has  been  already  ac 
complished  there.  Let  us  be  just  ;  a  large  number  of 
masters  have  favored  the  moral  development  of  their 
slaves.  Since  the  foreign  slave  trade  has  ceased  to  bring 
rude  Africans  daily  upon  the  plantations,  the  negro  race 
of  these  States  has  been  rising  higher  and  higher.  This 


378  TO    AMERICANS. 

is  one  of  the  miracles  of  the  gospel,  whose  liberating  vir 
tue  always  displays  itself,  do  what  one  may ;  it  has  ac 
complished,  in  fact,  a  vast  preparatory  work,  and  has  ren 
dered  abolition  easier  in  the  heart  of  the  Southern  States, 
than  it  was  in  our  colonies,  or  even  in  those  of  England. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  churches,  of  which  they  are 
members,  and  to  which  they  are  in  general  passionately 
attached,  many  slaves  have  become  pious  and  intelligent ; 
their  manners  are  polite,  their  conduct  is  good,  their  con 
science  is  awakened,  the  sentiment  of  duty  has  a  large 
share  in  their  life ;  there  is  among  them  the  germ  of  a 
laborious  and  peaceful  class. 

These  things  must  be  confessed  ;  in  the  first  place,  in 
order  not  to  calumniate  the  South  ;  secondly,  to  prove  to 
it  that  the  prudent  abolition  of  slavery,  far  from  drawing 
in  its  train  the  perils  and  horrors  with  which  it  is  charged, 
is  on  the  contrary  the  only  means  of  escaping  danger,  of 
avoiding  ruin,  of  entering  without  too  rude  a  shock  into 
a  new  era  of  prosperity  and  peace. 

I  make  no  pretensions  to  know  how  things  will  hap 
pen.  The  prevailing  opinion  in  Europe,  and  especially  in 
England  is  that  the  separation  of  the  South  will  be  ere 
long  accepted  by  the  North,  and  that  the  victories  of  the 
latter,  if  it  win,  will  have  no  other  result  than  that  of 
securing  it  better  boundaries.  I  shall  be  greatly  astonished, 
for  my  part,  if  this  be  true.  After  having  carefully  stud 
ied  the  events  and  discussions  of  these  two  years,  I  re 
main  convinced  that  the  United  States  have  not  ceased 
to  pursue  the  integral  reestablishment  of  the  Union.  I 
remember  the  words  of  Mr.  Lincoln  :  "  Our  popular  gov 
ernment  has  been  often  considered  a  mere  trial.  Already, 
thanks  to  the  nation,  it  has  given  proofs  of  its  capacity 
on  two  points :  it  has  succeeded  in  establishing  itself  and 


GRI:AT\;>S  OF  TFU;  FI'TURE.  379 

in  ruling.  It  lacks  still  but  one  tiling — it  must  succeed 
in  maintaining  itself  against  a  formidable  attempt  to  over 
throw  it.  It  is  for  the  nation  to  demonstrate  now  to  the 
world  that  those  who  can  win  an  election  can  also  sup 
press  a  rebellion,  that  ballots  are  the  lawful  and  peaceful 
successors  of  bullets." 

The  question  thus  laid  down  at  the  first  moment,  has 
remained  the  same  ever  since.  Unless  constrained  thereto 
by  the  ill  success  of  their  arms,  or  the  intervention  of 
Europe,  the  Unite* I  States  will  be  little  disposed,  in  my 
opinion,  to  admit  that  bullets  should  prevail  over  ballots. 
This  problem  of  a  revolution  in  the  heart  of  a  free  coun 
try  touches  the  inmost  recesses  of  their  political  laith  and 
national  life. 

However  it  may  In-,  we  have  just  seen  that  two  results 
are  from  this  time  secured — the-  decline  of  slavery  and  the 
uprising  of  a  great  people.  IK  contrary  to  my  present 
conviction,  the  separation  should  make  itself  accepted, 
the  North  may  conline  itself  to  taking  measures  to  pre 
serve  the  Border  Stales  by  aiding  them  to  pass  as  speed 
ily  as  possible  from  the  rank  of  slave  States  to  that  of 
free  States.  If  the  Xorth  should  justify  my  prevision  and 
persist  in  not  pausing  until  it  has  conquered,  it  is  probable 
that  more  general  measures  will  compel  all  the  slave 
States  to  dec-ide  between  the  maintenance  of  their  insti 
tutions,  thenceforth  struck  with  death,  and  the  accept 
ance  of  an  indemnity  designed  to  facilitate  progressive 
abolition.* 

*  Let  us  pay  once  more  th;it  this  indemnity  will  not  be  an  over 
whelming  burden  on  the  American  finances.  It  \\ill  not  involve  ten  or 
fourteen  thousand  million  of  francs,  ;is  some  have  had  the  audacity  to 
pretend,  doubtless  estimating  the  slaves,  men,  women,  and  children,  at 
an  average  value  six  or  seven  times  greater  than  that  paid  by  France  and 
England.  But  four  thousand  million  francs  are  needed,  distributed  over 
!  ~ 


380  TO    AMERICANS. 


the  South,  though  conquered,  continue  to  resist  ? 
"Will  it,  on  the  contrary,  comprehend  its  true  interests? 
Will  it  again  become  an  integral  part  of  the  Union  ? 
Will  the  American  people,  reconstructed  thus  in  its  ele 
ments,  at  once  recover  the  regular  working  of  its  institu 
tions,  its  small  armies,  and  its  insignificant  budgets  ?  I 
hope  so,  without  disguising  from  myself,  however,  that 
neither  the  armies  nor  the  budgets  can  again  descend  to 
the  standard  of  two  years  ago.  Nevertheless,  should  a  few 
of  the  Gulf  States  insist  on  self-destruction,  should  they 
condemn  themselves  to  suffer  through  separation  instead 
of  prospering  through  union,  the  suffering  will  then  ac 
complish  its  work  and  impart  its  instruction.  Drawn  in 
contrary  directions,  divided  and  subdivided  to  infinity 
by  their  new  principle,  the  right  of  separation,  forced  to 
maintain  troops  on  their  frontiers,  in  constant  struggle 
and  frequent  war  with  the  United  States,  these  unhappy 
States  will  come  to  regret  their  isolation  ;  they  will  end 
where  they  ought  to  have  begun,  the  Union  will  reappear. 
Do  what  one  may,  indeed,  the  power  of  absorption  which 
the  United  States  possess  will  continue  to  act  ;  and  where 
w^illit  act  with  more  force  than  toward  this  kindled  peo 
ple,  bound  to  them  by  so  many  ties  ? 

twenty  years;  that  is,  two  hundred  million  francs  a  year.  And  aga.n, 
this  is  supposing  all  the  slave  States  to  have  accepted  the  conditions  in 
the  required  time  and  to  be  entitled  to  indemnity,  which  is  scarcely 
probable. 


PART    SIXTH. 

TO     CHRISTIANS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

ATTITUDE    OF    CIIKISTIAXS    IN    AMERICA. 

I  HAVE  a  \vonl  more  to  say  before,  laying  down  the 
pen,  and  this  word  I  shall  address  to  Christians.*  The 
work  of  the  emancipation  of  slaves  and  the  uprising  of 
the  United  States  should  be  theirs;  it  imposes  upon  them 
a  special  responsibility,  of  which  they  have  not  had  suffi 
cient  consciousness  hitherto. 

Slavery  and  the  gospel — two  adversaries — are  here. 
They  landed  almost  at  the  same  time  on  the  shores  of 
America  ;  the  one  with  the  Puritans  of  Xew  England, 
the  other  with  the  colonists  of  Virginia.  Since  then, 
they  have  been  constantly  engaged  in  a  struggle;  and 
even  when  the  churches  have  imperfectly  comprehended 
their  exalted  mission,  it  has  not  been  in  them  to  suppress 

*  Thanks  to  the  progress  which  the  truth  of  positions  lias  made  in 
our  terms,  I  can  emplov  this  tenn  instead  of  having  recourse  to  para 
phrases.  We  need  no  longer  pretend  that  every  man  is  a  Christian  ;  he 
who  professes  Jesus  Christ  and  he  who  considers  Christianity  as  a  mere 
national  custom. 


382  TO    CHRISTIAXS 

it.  Christianity  is  a  decree  of  emancipation,  and  he  who 
preaches  the  Gospel,  paves  the  way  for  emancipation, 
whether  he  knows  it  or  not,  whether  he  wills  it  or  not. 
"  Christianity,"  wrote  M.  de  Tocqueville,  "  is  a  religion 
of  freemen  ;  neither  its  detractors  nor  its  false  friends  can 
take  from  it  this  truly  divine  character."  By  the  side  of, 
or  rather  above  abolitionism  considered  as  a  party,  there 
is  profound  abolitionism,  that  which  acts  within  the  aboli 
tionism  of  Jesus  Christ.  Open  the  books  of  an  illustrious 
honest  man,  such  as  Tacitus,  and  compare  the  sentiments 
found  expressed  there  with  those  which  are  now  prevail 
ing  ;  measure  the  distance  between  our  time  and  that 
when  slaves,  tortured  to  death  for  having  thrown  light  on 
a  question  concerning  their  masters,  moved  no  soul,  how 
ever  generous ;  make  this  comparison,  and  tell  us  what 
has  been  the  work  of  the  Gospel.  To  abolish  the  servi 
tude  of  negroes,  the  heart  of  the  white  man  must  be 
changed,  and  who  can  do  this  miracle,  except  Him  who 
loves  both  white  and  black,  who  has  died  for  both  white 
and  black,  who  opens  wide  the  doors  of  the  same  paternal 
mansion  alike  to  white  and  black.  Moral  force  will  always 
be  stronger  than  brute  force. 

4i  A  thousand  prisons,  crumbling  'mid  the  flames, 
Equal  not,  in  the  freeing  of  the  soul, 
The  drop  of  blood  that  trickles  from  the  cross." 

These  beautiful  lines  of  M.  Arnould  express  a  truth 
which  is  written  on  every  page  of  history. 

"  It  was  religion  that  really  emancipated  the  blacks 
in  the  English  colonies,"  said  the  Due  de  Broglie  in  the 
report  which  we  all  have  read.  "It  was  religion  that 
emancipated  the  blacks  in  the  United  States,"  is  what  the 
annals  of  America  should  proclaim  in  turn.* 

*  This  preparatory  work  of  the  Gospel  is  more  advanced  than  is  be 
lieved.  The  slaves  pray  for  their  liberty,  they  expect  their  liberty,  they 


Have  the  American  churches  been  unfaithful  to  their 
mission?  We  would  be  disposed  to  think  so,  should  we 
pans;1  at  appearances. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  deny  the  evil.  It  is  very  creat  ; 
were  it  not  so,  my  work  would  not  contain  this  .--ixth  part. 
There  are  those.'  who  pass  their  time  in  invoking  ihe  holv 
Scriptures  against  the  poor  slave;  those  who,  according 
to  the  eloquent  expression  of  Mrs.  Stowe,  drown  the  lamb 
in  its  mother's  milk". 

The  preachings  of  the  South  are,  in  this  respect,  one 
of  the  scandals  of  our  times.  The  South  has  its  bishop, 
L<'0iiidas  Polk,  who  is  at  the  same  time  a  general,  and 
who,  followed  by  several  members  of  his  clerv;v,  has  taken 
the  ii"ld  in  Tennessee.  The  South  has  its  eon-ecrat  ions 
of  banners,  iis  pra\ers  in  behalf  of  slaverv,  its  pa<-;onate 
appeals  to  th'1  protection  which  the(!od  of  lo\'e  should 
accord  to  slavery. 

If  T  recall  these  tilings,  it  is  not  that  I  wi<h  to  'j'ive 
myself  the  CM<V  advantage  of  refuting  such  monstrous 
doctrines.  No,  my  thought  is  directed  toward  the  North 
rather  than  the  South.  The  faults  of  the  Northern 
churches  should  call  our  attention  to-day.  The  Christians 
of  the  South  are  subject  to  an  impulse  which  wo  never 
take  sufficiently  into  account.  Indulirenee  is  the  more 
in  place  here,  that  we  all  have1  been  accomplices  in  the 
crime  with  which  we  reproach  them.  All  Europe  contrib 
uted  to  introduce  slavery  into  America;  Kne;land  in 

await  it  piously  from  the  hands  of  thoir  Saviour.  There  is  n  jubilee  song 
which  is  sung  secretly  in  the  South,  1802  being  the  year  of  jubilee. 
The  following  is  the  chorus: 

"  In  ciu-htoon  hmvl't"!  and  sixty-two, 

My  »)i'<>]i!f  inn-;  !><•  IVee ; 
It  is  the  year  of  j'lbilce, 
My  people  nui>t  be  free." 


;,0  -i  TO    CHKISTIANS 

particular  protected  the  slave  trade  during  the  last  cen 
tury  with  so  much  earnestness,  that  it  made  one  of  the 
irrievances  at  the  insurrection  of  the  colonies ;  these 
colonies  themselves,  moreover,  all  participated  during  long 
years  in  the  traffic  in  negroes  from  Africa,  and  on  this 
point  we  have  not  the  right  to  except  the  Puritans  ;  lastly, 
Irit  the  other  day,  who  equipped  more  than  twenty  slave 
ships  every  year,  if  not  New  York?  Xo  one  is  therefore 
authorized  to  cast  the  stone  at  the  {Southern  planters; 
they  have  simply  continued  a  little  longer,  under  the 
influence  of  exceptional  circumstances,  what  we  have 
practised  as  well  as  they.  Is  it  certain  that,  placed  in 
their  surroundings,  we  should  have  shown  better  con 
duct,  and  held  better  language?  flight  we  not  have 
succeeded,  as  well  as  they,  in  perverting  in  good  faith 
the  meaning  of  the  Gospel,  and  displaying  enthusiasm  for 
slavery  ? 

This  enthusiasm  exists  in  the  South.  The  South  con 
tains  a  large  number  of  pious,  excellent,  charitable  men, 
morally  equal  to  the  best  Christians  of  any  other  country, 
who  really  see  nothing  else  in  slavery  than  a  benelicent 
tutelage,  designed  to  bring  np  a  minor  race,  which  will 
be  some  day  restored  to  its  providential  destinies.  These 
men  are  friends  of  the  Colonization  Society  for  emancipat 
ed  negroes  and  the  negro  colony  founded  by  it  in  Africa. 
These  men  have  come  (how,  I  know  not,  but  national 
passions  work  these  miracles)  to  see  about  them  neither 
families  sold  at  retail,  nor  marriages  broken,  nor  young 
maidens  surrendered  to  the  first  comer.  The  crimes 
which  spring  up  in  emulation  of  the  first  crime,  man  sold 
to  man,  public  crimes,  honored,  and  satisfied  with  them 
selves,  crimes  sanctioned  by  the  law  and  recognized  by  the 
courts,  they  assimilate  to  those  troublesome  but  inevitable 
crimes  which  are  born  of  all  communities. 


IN    AMERICA.  385 

Weil  ;  the  more  I  reflect,  the  more  I  am  astonished, 
the  less  also  I  feel  the  right  irrevocably  to  condemn  the 
intentions  of  any. 

I  address  myself  to  the  Christians  of  the  Xorth,  be 
cause  I  have  the  hope,,  still  better,  the  certainty  of  being 
understood.  We  will  quickly  agree,  as  well  on  the  faults 
of  the  past  as  the  duties  of  the  present  and  the  prospects 
of  the  future. 

The  faults  of  the  past  have  been  grave,  but  I  do  not 
design  to  dwell  on  them.  While  recalling  them,  it  is 
necessary  that  I  apply  hero  my  principle,  to  believe  in 
the  Lrood.  It  is  by  sympathy,  by  confidence,  and  not  by 
incessant  recriminations,  that  those  can  be  encouraged 
who  are  leaving  an  evil  course,  and  adopting  :t  better.  I 
can  never  understand  why  we  should  choose  the  precise 
moment  when  an  effort  takes  place,  when,  despite  many 
obstacles,  and  at  the  price  of  many  sacrifices,  the  old 
errors  have  been  abandoned,  to  institute  inexorable  in 
vestigations.  Under  the  pretext  of  justice,  we  ri>k  being 
neither  very  able,  nor  very  charitable,  nor  even  very 
just. 

It  is  unhappily  true  tli.it  many  churches  and  religious 
societies  have  seemed  to  shrink  too  long  from  the  austere 
duties  imposed  on  them  by  the  question  of  slavery.  Two 
examples  will  suffice  to  characterize  this  period  of  deplor 
able  hesitation.  The  Tract  Society  refused  writings  con- 

*-  O 

demning  the  crime  of  slavery ;  the  American  Board  of 
Missions,  restrained  by  the  fear  of  provoking  a  crisis  in  its 
work  among  the  Choctaw  and  Cherokee  Indians,  miserably 
tacked  about  among  the  rocks,  sometimes  passing  resolu 
tions  against  the  principle  of  slavery,  then  refusing  their 
application,  managing  the  position  of  its  missionaries  and 
the  prejudices  of  the  Indians,  until  the  moment  when 
the  most  extreme  consequences  of  its  conduct  broke  forth 


386  TO    CHRISTIANS 

to  its  terrified  gaze — a  slave*  had  been  burned  alive  by 
his  mistress,  a  member  of  the  Choctaw  Church,  and  this 
mistress,  as  well  as  her  accomplices,  had  continued  to 
belong  to  the  Church,  and  devoutly  to  partake  of  the 
communion,  while  the  missionaries  had  not  deemed  it 
possible  to  oppose  it ! 

Since  then,  the  American  Board  has  broken  with  them, 
as  a  matter  of  course.  But  where  find  a  fact  which  bet 
ter  points  out  the  indefinite  fruitfulness  of  evil  in  an  am 
biguous  position?  We  think  that  we  can  limit  the  con 
sequences  of  our  principles  ;  we  will  never  succeed.  Some 
day,  we  will  find  ourselves  on  the  brink  of  an  abyss,  as 
happened  to  the  American  Board. 

Plausible  arguments  had  not  been  lacking  it.  It  had 
said  to  itself  that  missionaries  were  called  to  preach  the 
Gospel,  not  to  meddle  in  social  or  political  questions; 
that  the  Gospel  would  end  by  destroying  slavery  without 
needing  to  attack  it  directly  ;  that  the  Scripture  contain 
ed  no  positive  commands  with  regard  to  it ;  that  the 
liberty  of  action  of  the  missionaries,  should  be  respected  ; 
that  slaveholders  could  not,  from  the  mere  fact  of  being 
such,  be  cut  off  from  the  Church. 

Once  launched  upon  this  declivity,  one  goes  fast  and 
far.  The  committee  of  the  Society  reassured  itself  by 
praying  for  the  abolition  of  slavery,  or  inserting  a  few 

*  I  am  no  longer  obliged  to  refute  the  gross  literalism  which,  discover 
ing  the  mention  of  slavery  in  the  Gospel,  thence  concludes  that  the 
Gospel  approves  slavery.  The  apostles  who,  doubtless,  personally  be 
lieved  in  its  lawfulness,  and  who,  moreover,  were  charged  with  no  revela 
tion  relative  to  political  laws,  had  received  a  higher  mission  ;  they  had 
to  lay  down  the  bases  of  that  Christian  morality  before  which  many  social 
crimes,  which  had  never  been  denounced  by  the  Gospel,  were  to  fall  in 
turn.  Cruel  tortures  have  disappeared,  slavery  is  about  to  disappear,  and 
we  certaialv  are  not  at  the  end. 


IN"    AMERICA.  3«7 

inoffensive  wishes  in  its  reports.  Then,  when  terrible 
questions  propounded  themselves  :  "Are  we  to  constrain 
our  missionaries  to  eiit  off  iVoni  the  Church  Indians  who 
separate  families,  selling  the  daughter  without  the  mother, 
or  the  husband  without  the  wife?  Are  we  to  provoke 
the  anirer  of  the  Indians  and  the  expulsion  of  the  mis 
sionaries  ?  Are  we  to  destroy  the  work  of  half  a  century? 
Are  wo  to  do  this,  against  the  advice  of  the  missionaries 
themselves?'1 — the  committee  dared  not  come  to  a  deci 
sion;  it  closed  its  eyes,  sighing  ;  it  took  shelter  behind 
those  general  maxims  of  prudence  and  patience,  so  con 
venient  and  so  dangerous  in  such  a  case. 

Thus  have  acted  respectable  men,  whom  I  do  not 
intend  to  jud'jv.  I  shall  rather  jud'jv  us  all.  We  are 
leaning  t<>\vard  utilitarianism;  utilitarianism  is  perhaps 
the  ufroatest  vice  of  the  Christians  of  our  times.  To 
sacrifice  principles  to  utility,  to  accept  errors  which  serve 
or  seem  to  servo  the  cause  of  the  (iospcl,  to  reject  or  at 
least  postpone  truths  which  would  stir  up  ob-tach-s,  to 
deplore  progress  winch  resembles  trial,  to  be  dismayed  at 
crises  of  uprising,  such  is  the  tendency  which  prevails 
amoii'j:  us.  Kvery  moment,  you  hear  — -"This  is  not  per 
haps  <j',iite  in  conformity  with  the  Gospel,  but  it  will  be 
productive  of  good;  let  us  beware  how  we  put  any  ob 
stacle  in  its  way." 

The  Saviour  commanded  us  to  cut  off  a  hand  or  pluck 
out  an  eye,  rather  than  suffer  ourselves  to  be  persuaded 
by  those  who  condemned  His  word.  These  painful  am 
putations  are  not  to  our  taste  ;  to  cut  off  the  Indian  mis 
sion  rather  than  compound  with  the  infamies  of  Indian 
slavery,  would  have  appeared  to  us  blamable.  Nothing 
less  was  needed  than  the  tragedy  of  which  I  have  just 
spoken  to  modify  the  points  of  view. 

The  utilitarian  instinct,  which  to-day  is  everywhere, 


388  TO  ci 

exercises  in  particular  a  marked  influence  in  the  United 
States.  It  alone  explains  the  equivocal  attitude  which  so 
many  churches  have  preserved  ibr  so  many  years  toward 
the  problem  of  slavery.  If  they  had  energetically  made 
use  of  the  influence  which  belonged  to  them,  we  should 
not  now  see  even  several  Northern  States,  Iowa,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Pennsylvania  perhaps,  preparing  infamous  bills 
designed  to  close  their  territory  to  free  negroes,  and  to 
render  necessary  (they  will  not  succeed  in  it,  thank  God  !) 
the  transportation  of  the  masses  of  slaves  whose  emanci 
pation  is  foreseen.  It  must  be  said  that  the  idea  of  break 
ing  with  the  Southern  churches,  and  bringing  about  a 
formidable  crisis  in  all  their  works,  had  rendered  Chris 
tians  timid  and  circumspect  beyond  measure.  They  per 
suaded  themselves — as  is  often  enough  the  custom  in  such 
cases — that  their  action  would  be  the  more  spiritual,  (let 
us  distrust  the  word,)  the  more  it  remained  a  stranger 
to  the  discussion  of  social  problems. 

Thence  those  prayer  meetings,  excellent  and  touching, 
but  in  which  the  cessation  of  slavery  rarely  obtained  a 
fleeting  mention.  Thence  those  lamentations  which  come 
to  us  from  America  regarding  the  inevitable  consequences 
of  the  crisis — brothers  who  labored  together  are  now 
separated  !  The  Christian  pulpit,  on  both  sides,  has  be 
come  an  instrument  of  civil  war  !  The  enormous  expenses 
of  the  country  restrict  donations  for  the  advancement  of 
the  Gospel !  Religious  societies  are  passing  through  a 
time  of  trial ! 

I  comprehend  these  sufferings  ;  they  are  legitimate. 
Xo  one  can  contemplate  without  affliction,  those  excellent 
American  missions  in  Asia  Minor  and  Syria,  now  deprived 
in  part  of  the  resources  by  which  they  were  maintained. 
But  I  have  this  confidence,  first,  that  the  suffering  will  be 
short,  next,  that  missions  liberally  founded  on  the  devel- 


IN    AMERICA.  389 

opment  of  indigenous  elements,  missions  which  ere  long 
become  churches  conducted  by  the  pastors  of  the  country, 
will  uprise  better  than  others  which  long  preserve  the 
character  of  an  exotic  importation. 

However  it  may  be,  Christians  should  know  that  God 
demands  of  them  fidelity  more  than  success,  and  that  He 
reserves  to  Himself  some  day  to  proportion  success  to 
fidelity.  It  would  be  sad  to  be  more  grieved  on  the  sub 
ject  of  churches  rent  in  twain  and  receipts  endangered, 
than  we  were  formerly  on  the  subject  of  the  monstrous 
iniquities  of  slavery. 

I  have  told  of  the  evil,  I  will  now  tell  of  the  good. 
And  lirst,  vast  progress  is  being  accomplished  by  the 
very  ruptures  which  the  different  churches  have  just  en 
dured.  The  Baptists,  Methodists,  and  Episcopalians  of 
the  South  have  broken  with  those  of  the  North.  The 
Presbyterian  synods  of  the  South  have  just  adopted  a 
similar  measure.* 

Thus  by  a  dispensation  of  God,  which  may  appear 
grievous,  but  is  above  all  salutary,  the  churches  of  the 
North  are  snatched  from  the  utilitarian  anxieties  which 
they  had  laid  upon  themselves.  They  have  become  free, 
and  their  action,  their  attitude  have  manifested  it  on  the 
spot.  T  have  recent  resolutions  before  my  eyes  which  an 
nounce  that  slavery  is  at  length  judged  by  all  as  it  was 

*  Tliis  is  their  Address  to  all  tic  chxrcfu-x  u-hich  arc  HJ>OH  the  earth  : 
''  The  antagonism  between  the  North  and  South  on  the  subject  of  slavery, 
is  at  the  root  of  all  the  difficulties  which  have  resulted  in  the  rupture  of 
the  Federal  Union,  and  the  horrors  of  an  unnatural  war.  It  is  certain  that 
the  North  cherishes  a  profound  antipathy  for  slavery  itself,  while  the 
South  is  animated  with  an  equal  zeal  in  behalf  of  this  institution.  The 
events  of  the  day  necessarily  confirm  and  strengthen  this  antipathy  on 
one  side,  and  this  zeal  for  slavery  on  the  other." — This  is  speaking 
clearly. 


390  TO    CHRISTIAXS 

formerly  by  a  few.  The  report  presented  in  1861  by  the 
Trustees  of  the  American  Congregational  Union  is  wor 
thy  these  devoted  sons  of  the  Puritans,  old  champions 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  The  Baptists  have  not 
shown  themselves  less  firm  ;  their  church  in  Virginia  has 
just  had  the  honor  to  suffer  the  consequences  of  the  hatred 
with  which  it  had  inspired  the  slaveholders.  It  is  known 
that  the  Baptist  and  Methodist  are  the  two  favorite  de 
nominations  of  the  negroes  ;  the  greatest  obstacle  to  their 
insurrection  would  be  found,  perhaps,  were  we  to  search 
closely,  in  the  very  great  influence  which  the  Gospel  thus 
exercises  over  them. 

Several  American  missions,  that  of  the  Sandwich  Isl 
ands  among  others,  have  declared  themselves  with  ear 
nestness.  The  American  Missionary  Association  has  an 
openly  abolition  position.  Lastly,  the  progress  has  for 
some  time  been  such,  that  at  the  last  GeneralAssembly  of 
the  Evangelical  Alliance,  the  representatives  which  Amer 
ica  numbered  in  her  midst  joined  in  the  unanimous  vote 
which  it  cast  against  slavery. 

And  I  say  nothing  here  of  the  churches,  infinitely  nu 
merous,  in  which  the  patriotic  impulse  of  the  North  has 
been  strikingly  manifested.  Without  speaking  of  such 
pastors  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brownlow,  who  has  taken  the 
musket  and  faced  the  troops  in  Tennessee  commanded  by 
Bishop  Polk,  churches  are  not  lacking  which  are  busied 
in  sending  the  flower  of  their  youth  to  the  banners  of  the 
Union.  Mr.  Beecher  alone  has  furnished  a  hundred  and 
twenty-five  of  these  young  soldiers ;  a  member  of  his 
church  has  taken  it  upon  himself  to  furnish  revolvers  to' 
all  who  go ;  the  church  maintains  the  absent  and  their 
families,  and  sewing  circles  are  constantly  occupied  in 
the  manufacture  of  military  equipments. 

The  influence  of  the  Gospel  is  immense  in  America. 


391 

Since  the  churches  and  religious  societies  have  declared 
themselves  in  its  favor,  the  cause  of  abolition  is  won. 
The  South  has  never  been  deceived  ;  alter  the  Xat  Tur 
ner  insurrection,  its  first  thought  was  to  close  the  Sunday 
schools  and  arrest  the  religious  movement.  In  spite  of 
the  grave  faults  which  I  have  recalled  before,  the  Chris 
tians  of  the  United  States  have  been  unable  to  suppress 
even  for  a  single  day  the  fundamental  antagonism  which 
will  always  exist,  thank  (rod  !  between  the  Gospel  and 
slavery.  It  was  Christianity  that  in  former  times  pro 
duced  the  abolition  proclaimed  by  the  Northern  States ; 
it  is  again  Christianity  which  will  now  produce  abolition 
in  the  Southern  States.  The.  remarkable'  revival  which 
agitated  the  whole  North,  and  which,  save  at  a  point  in 
Baltimore,  stopped  short  at  the  frontiers  of  the  South, 
has  been  the  great  providential  means  against  slavery. 
Christians  have1  formed  everywhere  the  nucleus  of  the 
Republican  party  which  has  elected  31'.'.  Lincoln. 

To-day,  the  heart  of  the  nation  beats  in  the  army;  it  is 
found  aii'ain  in  the  camp;  no\v,  what  is  the  spirit  of  the 
army?  I  have  already  described  it  ;  things  happen  there 
which  our  old  Europe  is  perhaps  incapable  to  compre 
hend.  These  voung  men,  who,  with  Bible  in  knapsack, 
have  cjone  to  flight  for  the  country,  these  prayer-meetings 
held  in  all  the  regiments,  these  millions  of  tracts,  distrib 
uted  by  the  hand  of  the  officers  themselves,  these  New 
Testaments  printed  for  the  army,  at  the  rate  of  several  a 
minute,  and  which  have  found  so  many  earnest  readers  in 
the  ranks,  these  religious  libraries  founded,  these  orders 
of  the  day  stamped  witli  an  openly  religious  character, 
this  proscription  of  spirituous  liquors,  accepted  with  eager 
ness  by  the  soldiers, — all  this  forms  a  sum  total  which 
carries  the  mind  back  to  the  old  Huguenot  bands  or  the 
camps  of  Gustavus  Adolphtis. 


392  TO    CHRISTIANS 

The  Puritan  element  makes  its  presence  felt.  There 
are  numerous  officers  who  set  the  example  of  vital  piety. 
Was  not  General  McClellan  himself,  before  taking  com 
mand  of  the  army,  impressed  with  the  need  of  praying  on 
bended  knees  with  a  clergyman,  one  of  his  friends  ?  "  I 
had  given  myself  to  my  country,  now  I  have  given  myself 
to  God,"  were  the  last  words,  it  is  said,  of  this  interview. 

Other  generals  have  published  decidedly  Christian 
proclamations.  Colonels  care  like  fathers  of  families  for 
the  moral  conduct  of  their  regiments.  Who  does  not 
remember  the  young  and  handsome  Ellsworth,  the  first 
victim  of  the  civil  war  ?  His  soldiers  had  all  taken  a 
pledge  of  good  conduct  before  (putting  Chicago  ;  we  will 
add,  that  almost  all  have  done  honor  to  their  word. 

Colonel  Anderson,  illustrious  through  his  defence  of 
Fort  Sumter,  is  also  a  decided  Christian.  On  being  en 
treated  lately  to  say  a  few  words  to  a  Sunday  school,  he 
declared  in  words  as  simple  as  touching,  that  his  rule  of 
conduct  had  been  :  "Do  nothing  without  placing  your 
self  under  the  eye  of  God  !" 

I  might  cite  a  score  of  regiments  where  Sunday  schools 
are  held  by  the  colonels,  or  other  officers.  I  might  point 
out  the  works  of  evangelization  pursued  by  the  Christian 
soldiers  of  one  of  these  regiments,  under  the  name  of 
tho  Ilavelock  Society.  I  might  add  that  the  navy  pre 
sents  the  same  spectacle  as  the  army.  Under  the  influ 
ence  of  leaders,  such  as  Commodores  Duporit,  Mackean, 
and  Foote,  the  ships  often  resound  with  the  sinjnno-  of 

O        O 

•isalms.* 

*  One  of  the  signs  of  this  spirit  is  the  movement  that  has  been  mani 
fested  against  Sunday  battles.  It  lias  been  remarked,  that  whenever  the 
North  made  the  attack  on  this  day,  it  was  always  beaten,  witness  Bull 
Run,  Big  Bethel,  and  Ball's  Bluff.  Since  the  order  of  General  MCiellan, 
the  South  has  made  the  Sunday  attacks,  and  been  beaten. 


IN    AMERICA .  393 

These  are  great  things.  A  country  in  which  such 
sentiments  exercise  so  much  influence,  in  which  the  habit 
of  looking  higher  than  the  earth  lias  been  contracted  by 
so  many  souls,  is  not  a  count  rv  of  which  we  need  despair. 
It  will  go  forward,  it  will  not  succumb  beneath  its  task. 
however  heavy  it  may  be;  it  will  finish,  in  the  name  of 
the  Gospel,  and  by  the  strength  given  bv  God,  the  coins- 
sal  work  of  abolition.  The  example  is  set  in  high  places. 
The  ministers  of  the  State  publicly  invoke  the  blessings 
of  God  on  themselves,  and  the  direction  of  public  aiV;;irs  ! 
There  are  prayers  at  the  White  House:  .Mr.  Lincoln  is 
not  only  an  honest  man,  surrounded  by  universal  esteem, 
and  whose  family  anxieties  with  respect  to  his  children's 
health  are  the  anxieties  of  the  whole  country;  he  i>  also 
a  Christian.  Those  who  have  read  his  proclamation  de 
signed  to  set  apart  a  day  for  fasting  and  prayer,  know 
the  distance  that  separates  this  manifestation  of  a  vital 
and  personal  ftith,  from  so  many  documents  in  which 
official  piety  is  accustomed  to  display  its  cold  formulas, 
known  and  granted  in  advance.  J  have  also  ^one  over 
the  proclamations  published  by  the  governors  of  the 
Statc-s  in  answer  to  the  imitation  of  the  President,  and 
I  have  been  struck  with  the  deep  seriousness,  at  once 
Christian  and  patriotic,  with  which  the  faults  of  the  people 
are  therein  confessed.  This  entire  nation  seems  to  place 
itself  under  the  eye  of  God,  according  to  the  counsel  of 
Colonel  Anderson.* 

*  Religion  exercises  so  decisive,  and  in  some  sort  universal  an  influ 
ence  in  the  United  States,  that  the  same  demonstrations  of  piety  take 
place  in  the  s^uuth.  The  Messages  of  Jefferson  Davis  end  sometimes 
with  prayers. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ATTITUDE    OF    CHRISTIANS    IX    ENGLAND. 

DURING  this  glorious  crisis,  which  they  are  passing 
through  in  the  name  of  the  gospel,  and  lor  the  holy  cause 
of  justice,  the  United  States  counted  on  the  support  of 
England,  above  all  of  Christian  England.  England  is 
their  mother,  she  has  furnished  them-  almost  all  their 
original  population,  she  has  absorbed  into  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  nationality  the  later  immigrations.  They  are  bone 
of  her  bone,  and  ilesh  of  her  ilesh.  Furthermore,  a, 
religious  tie,  stronger  than  that  of  blood,  unites  the  two 
nations  which  show  themselves  devoted  above  all  others 
to  the  propagation  of  the  gospel  on  earth. 

We  know  to  what  point  the  frigid  attitude  of  English 
Christians  has  for  long  months  disappointed  the  hopes 
founded  upon  them.  I  speak  of  it  the  more  freely,  inas 
much  as  this  fault  is  already  almost  a  thing  of  the  past — 
and  sympathy  is  on  the  way  to  awaken. 

Yes,  for  long  mouths,  English  Christians  have  not  had, 
as  it  were,  a  single  word  of  encouragement  to  place  at 
the  service  of  those  who  were  combating  (as  I  have 
proved)  and  suffering  for  a  noble  cause.  Not  a  meeting, 
not  an  address ;  the  journals  which  serve  as  organs  to  the 


TO    CHRISTIANS    IN     LNul.AND.  ;)95 

principal  churches  have  almost  all  made  it  their  study  to 
discredit  the  movement,  to  point  out  with  an  accent  of 
triumph  the  mortifications  oi'  the  republic,  to  exaggerate 
the  successes  of  the  South,  and  depreciate  those  of  the 
North,  to  deny  that  slavery  was  in  question,  to  legitima 
tize  the  separation,  to  present  as  a  desirable  ideal  the 
definitive  maintenance  of  a  Southern  Confederacy. 

This  was  sad,  very  sad.  Christian  England  has  not, 
forgotten  the  moment  when  the  eloquent  cry  of  betrayed 
affection  crossed  the  seas,  l*  ( )h.  Englishmen,  Englishmen, 
could  you  not  have  watcln-d  with  us  one  hour;"'  It  will 
be  remembered  that  Mirabeau  once  proposed  the  resolu 
tion  in  the  National  Assembly:  "The  silem-e  of  Sieyi->  is 
a  public  misfortune."  With  stronger  reason,  the  resolu 
tion  might  be  adopted  by  ail  of  us,  continental  Christians, 
dismayed  by  the  attitude  of  England:  "'The  silence  of 
English  Christians  is  a  universal  calamity." 

They  have  sent  us  invitations  to  prayer,  but  nmonq 
the  subjects  pointed  out,  we  have  never  perceived  that 
which  preoccupied  all  our  thoughts.  The  <_nv;it  Tnoral 
and  religious  interest  of  our  auje  was  systematically  omit 
ted  ;  the  word  slavery  seemed  to  have  become  as  suspi 
cious  in  England  as  it  had  been  in  America.  One  would 
have  said  that,  desirous  of  justifying  the  prejudices  of 
their  enemies,  they  wished  to  prove  to  the  whole  world 
that  English  interests  passed  with  them  before  every 
thing,  that  their  abolition  zeal  was  extinct,  that  questions 
of  principle  were  incapable  of  moving  them.  During  this 
time,  blood  was  flowing;  that  blood,  the  effusion  of  which 
would  have  been  prevented  or  promptly  checked  by  the 
energetic  intervention  of  European  sympathies,  that  blood 
of  which  we  are  guilty,  all  we  who  have  been  unwilling 
to  discourage  the  monstrous  insurrection  of  the  South. 

One  of  the  problems   that   has   most  tormented  my 


•396  TO    CIIKISTIANS 

mind  has  been  to  explain  the  conduct  of  English  Chris 
tians  in  certain  affairs,  and  at  certain  moments.  I  know 
of  no  men  more  energetic  or  devoted  ;  at  the  present 
time,  a  very  large  portion  of  the  good  which  is  accom 
plished  on  our  globe  is  accomplished  through  their  power 
ful  initiative ;  yet  there  are  inexplicable  breaks  in  their 
action.  One  would  say  at  times  that  political  England 
alone  remained,  while  Christian  England  had  disappeared. 
Did  we  not  hear  it  said  but  the  other  day,  and  with  a 
show  of  reason,  that  in  the  extreme  East,  in  China,  France 
had  sustained  the  moral  and  religious  interests,  whilst 
England  represented  there  nothing  but  the  interests  of 
her  commerce  ?  If  such  things  are  thought,  if  they  ap 
pear  plausible,  and  are  generally  received,  whose  is  the 
fault  ? 

English  Christians  have  succeeded  in  persuading  them 
selves  that  slavery  is  not  in  question  in  the  United  States. 
How?  Truly,  I  cannot  yet  succeed  in  comprehending. 
The  fact  is  certain,  notwithstanding,  and  it  alone  explains 
the  attitude  which  has  grieved  us  so  deeply.  By  virtue 
of  a  marvellous  transformation,  the  same  men  whom  Eng 
lish  opinion  formerly  condemned  with  just  severity,  have 
become  almost  interesting  since,  by  treason  and  perjury, 
by  pillaging  public  property,  and  repudiating  private 
debts;  taking  care,  moreover,  to  proclaim  the  sanctity  of 
slavery,  they  have  endeavored  to  overthrow  their  free 
constitution,  and  have  supplicated  foreign  powers  to  aid 
in  the  destruction  of  their  country. 

Whence  comes  such  a  metamorphosis  ?  Whence 
comes  it  that  the  question  of  slavery,  which  formerly 
figured  alone  in  the  debates  of  the  North  and  South,*  and 

*  This  care  for  slavery  had  been  carried  so  far  as  to  propose  ex 
pressly,  that  a  free  State  could  not  be  admitted  unless  a  slave  State  were 


IN     KN'JI.AM).  397 

which  also  figured  :i'o;ie  in  the  ordinanceof  secession,* fades 
away  all  at  once,  and  passes  in  tiie  eyes  of  English  Chris 
tians  as  preserving  only  a  secondary  part  ?  I  need  not 
again  inquire  ho\v.  I  limit  myself  to  affirming,  and  no 
one  will  contradict  me,  that  if,  before  the  too  well  receiv 
ed  sophisms  of  these  last  years,  it  had  been  announced  to 
Europe  that  a  President  opposed  to  the  extension  of 
slavery  was  about  to  be  elected,  the'  English  Christians 
would  have  manifested  the  liveliest  joy.  And  if  it  had 
then  been  added,  thai  the  South  would  break  the  Union 
on  account  of  such  an  election,  it  would  have  been  thence 
coiie'.'id.'d  that  slaverv  was  alone  in  question,  since  the 
mere  threat  o!'  arresting  its  extension  Miiliced  to  precipi 
tate  the  South  into  an  armed  revolt. 

Then  too,  those  to  whom  a  Free  Soil  PresM'-nt  would 
not  have  been  sullicient,  would  not  have  tl;'  dis 

couraging  th.-  movement,  but  of  encouraging  it,  on  the 
contra"\". — The  President  and  his  friends  do  n<»t  LL'O  far 
enough;  We'.:,  we  will  endeavor  to  make  them  go  further; 
we  wi.l  s:<j;n  addresses,  we  v.'ill  stir  up  abolition  agitation, 
we  will  sho\v  ourselves  ready  for  every  thing  else  in  fine, 
than  to  accord  to  the  champions  of  slavery  the  support 
o;  our  abstin'-nee,  and  to  refuse  to  its  adversaries,  the 
vainly  soueked  aid  of  our  cordial  sympathies. 

admitted  at  the  same  time.  Another  plan,  proposed  first  by  Mr.  Calhoun, 
and  taken  up  again  in  IStiO,  by  Senator  Hunter  of  Virginia,  proposed 
that  henceforth  two  Presidents  should  be  elected,  the  one  from  the  free, 
and  the  other  from  the  slave  States,  and  that  without  the  signature  of 
both  Presidents,  no  act  of  Congress  should  have  the  force  of  law. 

*  In  the  ordinance  of  secession  passed  by  South  Carolina,  a  single 
argument  is  presented  "before  heaven  and  eaith," — that  slavery  is  in 
danger.  After  thirty  years  of  agitation  against  slavery,  a  man  had  just 
been  elected  President,  "  whose  opinions  and  designs  were  hostile  to 
slaverv." 


398  TO    CHRISTIANS. 

I  have  pointed  out  elsewhere  the  causes  of  a  misunder 
standing,  ibr  which  I  ^tall  never  succeed,  I  think,  in 
accounting  sufficiently.  Perhaps,  in  lino,  it  cannot  be 
better  explained  than  by  recalling  to  what  point  the 
United  States,  under  the  domination  of  the  slaverv  party, 
were  really  on  the  way  to  become  an  odious  government, 
without  liberty  within,  without  equity  without,  without 
scruples  in  public  and  private  aflairs.  However  it  may 
be,  light  is  now  dawning,  the  organs  of  independent 
churches,  in  particular,  are  holding  a  language  which  will 
be  understood.  It  is  heard  already  ;  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  manufacturing  countries,  among  the  populations 
that  have  suffered  from  the  American  crisis,  the  impulse 
of  generous  sympathy  has  burst  forth;  it  is  extending,  it 
is  becoming  consolidated,  it  has  already  forced  back  be 
fore  it  the  sad  policy  of  last  year;  it  will  force  it  back 
anew,  should  it  endeavor  to  reappear  ;  it  does  not  hold  to 
observing  moral  neutrality  ;  it  holds  to  proclaiming  loudly 
that  the  wishes  of  the  English  people  are  on  the  side  of 
the  North  ;  it  prepares  the  broad  and  solid  bases  on  which 
the  friendship  of  the  two  countries  will  henceforth  repose. 
The  party  of  the  Bible  has  risen;  Christian  England,  for 
her  honor  and  for  the  good  of  America,  is  about  to  make 
reparation,  and  more,  ibr  the  evil  she  has  done. 


CHAPTER   III. 

SOCIAL    MISSION    OF    CIIKISTI AXS. 

THE  Christians  of  England  have  made  a  bad  campaign. 
What  are  we  to  conclude  i'roin  this?  What  is  now  to 
be  done  to  make  a  better  one?  Remember  the  speech 
of  the  ircncral  :  uThc  battle  is  lo.-t.  but  we  have  time  to 
gain  anol  her." 

We  have  time.  Only  let  us  remember  that  battles 
are  not  gained  bv  folding  the  liands.  We  pcri>h  by  the 
inertia  of  those  honest  men  who  bewail  themselves,  sigh, 
see  inconveniences  everywhere,  hesitate  to  act,  and  dis 
courage  those  who  do  act. 

Christian  selfishness,  pardon  me  this  conjunction  of 
words,  does  not  cease  to  impede  the  good  and  to  chill 
generous  impulses.  Under  the  pretext  of  thinking  only 
of  the  Gospel,  it  succeeds  in  cutting  oil'  one  by  one  the 
finest  fruits  of  the  Gospel.  This  it  is,  which  pretends  to 
occupy  itself  with  the'  conversion  of  slaves,  and  not  their 
emancipation.  This  it  is  which,  calculating  the  chances, 
and  gaining  a  glimpse  of  the  real  inconveniences  which 
every  energetic  initiative  entails  in  its  train,  asks  with 
anguish  whether  such  or  such  a  progress  will  not  cost  too 
dear,  whether  it  will  not  endanger  the  prosperity  of  ex- 


400  TO    CHRISTIANS  : 

isting  works.  These  works  then  become  idols  to  which 
to  offer  up  sacrifices  ;  provided  that  the  works  suffer  in 
the  sequel  of  a  generous  movement  (and  they  will  suffer 
infallibly),  the  movement  itself  is  blamed,  it  excites  more 
ill  humor  than  it  attracts  sympathy. 

How  often  for  some  time  have  I  heard  the  complaint : 
"Ah!  if  there  were  a  Christian  party,  what  mission 
would  it  now  fulfil?"  God  does  not  twice  in  an  a<je 
lend  his  servants  striking  occasions  to  manifest  by  social 
benefits  the  excellence  of  the  Gospel.  Christians  mi<rht 
have  seconded  in  America  the  greatest  progress  of  the 
times,  and  they  did  not  do  it  ;  Christians  might  have 
arrested  at  its  beginning  the  insurrection  for  slavery,  and 
they  did  not  do  it  ;  Christians  might,  perhaps,  have  pre 
vented  civil  war,  and  they  did  not  do  it;  Christians 
might  have  conjured  down  the  chances  of  a  horrible  war 
between  England  and  America,  and  they  did  not  do  it. 

It  is  because  we  have  not  sufficiently  comprehended 
the  social  mission  of  the  Gospel.  The  Gospel  !  we  im 
prison  it  in  its  sphere,  and  in  some  sort  in  its  specialty. 
We  too  often  draw  a  difference  between  the  sacred  and 
the  profane.  Xow,  one  of  the  great  benefits  of  the  Gos 
pel  has  consisted  precisely  in  abolishing  this  distinction, 
in  reestablishing  unity  between  the  human  soul  and  life. 
To  upraise  everything,  to  sanctify  everything,  to  preserve 
everything,  to  put  the  sacred  everywhere  and  leave  the 
profane  nowhere,  such  is  the  marvellous  work  which  it 
accomplishes.  Great  things  and  small,  affections  and  in 
terests,  duties  as  fathers  of  families  and  as  citizens — we 
have  the  right  to  declare  nothing  profane  ;  that  is,  to  ab 
stract  nothing  from  our  God. 

Have  we  t\vo  principles  of  life,  as  well  as  two  kinds  of 
morality,  the  one  for  the  church  and  the  other  for  the 


THEIR    SOCIAL   MISSION".  401 

world  ;  the  one  for  private  relations  and  the  other  for 
politics?  All!  I  would  weep  my  eyes  dry,  should  the 
enemies  of  the  Gospel  deem  themselves  authorized  by  our 
fault  to  dispute  its  social  mission. — u  See  these  renowned 
Christians!"  they  murmur  already  in  our  ears,  '•  they 
know  very  well  how  to  compound  with  vices,  profits,  or 
national  prejudices.  Opium  has  imposed  silence  on  them  ; 
now  they  will  he  hushed  by  the  presence  of  cotton." 

Our  Christianity  has  the  air  sometimes  of  Jia\ -ing  gone 
outside  tlteayc.  All  that  is  not  the  direct  work  of  preach 
ing  or  of  charity  seems  to  awaken  its  scruples.  As  if  any 
thing  human  could  remain  a  stranger  to  us,  as  if  the  (Ins- 
pel,  which  surrounded  the  earth  and  sky,  did  not  com 
prehend  political  communities;  as  if  it  proceeded  bv 
mutilations  instead  of  transformations;  as  if,  like  \\\\<» 
religions  and  petty  morals,  it  sanctified  man  by  diminish 
ing  him,  taking  away  the  affections,  taking  away  the  ex 
ternal  duties,  taking  away  the  arts,  taking  awav  litera 
ture,  taking  away,  in  line,  always  and  everywhere,  and 
making  the  world  believe  that  one  !<>ves  God,  only  ou 
condition  of  loving  nothing  elso. 

The  world  is  but  too  much  disposed  to  admit  this 
doctrine.  Every  Christian,  in  its  eyes,  is  a  man  who  has 
entered  a  convent,  an  incomplete  man,  "who  will  pray, 
but  wiil  no  longer  act,  who  glories  henceforth  in  interest 
ing  himself  in  nothing  here  below,  in  calling  the  affections 
idols,  in  having  no  heart  either  fov  creatures,  (as  it  is  said,) 
or  civilization,  or  liberty. 

I  feel  no  embarrassment  in  sayingthese  things,  for,  ot 
all  Christians,  perhaps,  those  of  England  have  best  seen 
and  best  practised  the  principle  which  I  have  just  cited. 
Their  history  is  the  most  substantial  demonstration  of  the 
social  mission  of  the  Gospel,  of  which  I  know.  What 


402  TO    CHRISTIANS  : 

would  have  become  of  the  renowned  English  liberties,  if 
the  Puritans  had  not  been  found  in  the  way  of  the  Stuarts? 
These  snuffling  Presbyterians  (and  it  is  not  for  this  qual 
ity  that  I  praise  them)  moved  consciences  and  accom 
plished  a  moral  revolution,  and  the  progress  of  events 
was  changed ;  they  were  drifting  towards  despotism, 
great  armies  were  about  forming,  as  on  the  continent ; 
all  this  became  impossible. 

Even  in  considering  only  the  things  of  our  times,  see 
the  agitations  by  which  the  churches  of  England  have 
paved  the  way  for  so  much  progress  and  effected  the 
abolition  of  slavery.  Herein  is  found  the  proof  of  the 
fact  that  they  did  not  fear  to  secularize  the  Gospel.  Pre 
cisely  because  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  separates  trie  Church 
arid  State,  and  considers  the  profession  of  faith  as  a  per 
sonal  act  not  at  all  connected  with  the  hereditary  capa 
city  of  citizen,  it  is  not  condemned  to  those  conditions  of 
sacred  and  profane  by  which  others  endeavor  to  limit  the 
fatal  confusion  which  gives  to  the  State  a  religious  power 
and  to  the  Church  a  civil  power.  When  the  enemy  is  in 
place,  it  is  necessary,  indeed,  to  erect  barricades;  when 
the  ramparts  of  the  human  conscience  are  intact,  why 
obstruct  the  circulation  ? 

The  English  know  this,  and  because  they  know  it, 
their  abstinence  during  the  first  year  of  the  American 
conflict  has  had  the  strange  character  which  we  have  felt 
it  incumbent  on  us  to  point  out.  The  European  demon 
strations  of  sympathy,  in  favor  of  the  North,  have  come 
from  Christians  of  the  continent  ;  England  has  scarcely 
taken  part  in  them.  I  recall  here  the  address  signed 
in  France  and  Switzerland  ;  the  society  of  a  penny  a  week 
for  slaves,  founded  in  the  Canton  de  Vaud  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Biehcl ;  the  numerous  churches  in  which  prayers  are 
put  up  for  America ;  the  still  more  numerous  houses 


THEIR    SOCIAL   MISSION.  403 

where  family  worship  is  scarcely  ever  celebrated  without 
entreating  of  God  the  peaceful  abolition  of  American 
slavery  ;  the  proposition  made  by  myself,  and  so  generally 
welcomed,  for  the  Christians  of  Europe  to  participate  in 
the  celebration  of  the  fast  appointed  by  Mr.  Lincoln  ; 
lastly,  and  above  all,  the  solemn  and  unanimous  vote 
(cordially  joined  in  by  the  English  Christians)  which  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  Alliance  cast  at  Geneva,  in  spite 
of  its  programmes  and  regulations.  The  president  of  the 
Alliance,  M.  Adrien  Xaville,  set  the  example  in  his  tine 
opening  address :  "  You  are,"  said  he  to  the  representa 
tives  of  the  United  States,  "  at  this  moment  tried  even 
unto  blood,  but  it  is  in  order  that  the  wound  from  which 
you  have  so  long  been  suffering,  may  be,  by  degrees,  but 
finally  cured.  llo\v  many  thanksgivings  the  Christians 
of  Europe,  like  those  of  America,  will  render  to  the  Lord 
on  the  day  when  your  noble  country  shall  number  none 
but  freemen  !  " 

The  resolution  adopted  by  the  members  of  the  Alli 
ance,  was  no  less  firm  and  precise :  "  The  Conference  of 
the  Evangelical  Christians  of  all  countries,  assembled  at 
Geneva  in  1SG1,  testifies  to  its  brethren  of  the  United 
States  the  lively  sympathy  which  it  experiences  for  them 
in  the  terrible  crisis  which  is  desolating  their  country.  .  .  . 
Convinced  that  it  is  to  the  existence  of  slavery  that  the 
cause  of  this  war  must  be  traced,  the  Conference  entreats 
the  Lord  to  incline  the  hearts  of  His  children  in  America 
to  provide,  by  wise  and  Christian  ways,  for  the  suppres 
sion  of  this  institution,  as  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  as  it  is  to  the  peace,  prosperity,  and  progress,  of 
this  great  nation "  * 

Christianity  is  fighting  its  last  battle  against  slavery, 

*  Against  slavery  and  the  slave  trade,  agreements  on  this  subject 
will  be  certainly  negotiated  before  long.     The  new  American  government 
18 


404  TO    CHRISTIANS. 

and,  what  is  admirable,  in  doing  a  work  of  liberty,  it  is 
about  to  do  a  work  of  peace.  All  kinds  of  progress  cling 
together,  and  what  is  of  service  to  one,  is  of  service  to 
another  ;  the  powerful  unity  which  I  pointed  out  a  moment 
ago  between  the  human  soul  and  life,  may  be  also  pointed 
out  in  the  heart  of  communities. 

Since  the  tocsin  of  alarm  which  the  Trent  affair 
sounded  among  us,  the  interests  of  peace  have  resumed 
their  place  among  the  anxieties  of  pious  men.  This  is 
seen  now  in  a  vote  of  the  English  Bible  Society,  offering 
to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  American  Bible  Society  during 
the  crisis,  now  in  a  speech  of  Mr.  Newman  Hall,  electrify 
ing  thousands  of  London  auditors.  Who,  better  than 
Christians,  can  strengthen  between  England  and  America, 
not  only  external  and  official  peace,  but  cordial  affection  ? 
"When  sympathies  shall  have  resumed  their  sway  among 
the  one,  prejudices  will  fall  among  the  other,  and  the 
strong  currents  of  mutual  affection  will  begin  again  to 
flow. 

This  is,  certainly,  a  glorious  mission  for  the  Christians 
of  both  countries  to  accomplish. 

owes  it  to  itself  to  show  that  it  does  not  confound  the  liberty  of  the  seas 
with  the  liberty  of  slavers. 


GENERAL  CONCLUSION. 

I  DO  not  wish  to  conclude  without  once  more  recalling 
the  essential  idea,  which  is,  as  it  were,  the  soul  of  this 
study.  This  idea  is  faith  in  principles.  Principles  are 
interests,  principles  are  success  ;  and  if  success  keep  us 
waiting,  no  matter,  principles  remain:  we  are  to  love 
them  lor  themselves. 

I  know  of  no  other  position  that  is  sure.  lie  who  be 
lieves  in  principles  and  admits  the  rights  of  truth,  is  shel 
tered  behind  an  impregnable  rampart.  Happen  what 
may,  he  has  done  his  duty,  and,  furthermore,  has  practised 
great  policy.  Miserable  policy  lives  on  expedients,  interro 
gates  the  winds  and  stars,  and,  incapable  of  the  victorious 
tenacity  which  gives  confidence  to  good,  dares  hazard 
nothing,  but  goes  on  from  day  to  day,  modifying  its 
maxims  to  suit  circumstances  or  the  chances  of  success. 

The  chances  of  success  appear  to  me  great  in  the 
United  States,  but  I  ask  the  reader  to  render  me  this 
justice,  that  I  have  not  waited  to  see  them,  in  order  to 
believe  in  them.  I  believed  in  them  because  I  believed  in 
principles.  I  greeted  from  the  first  moment  the  uprising 
of  a  great  people,  because  I  saw  from  the  first  moment 
that  this  great  people  was  undertaking  a  great  thing, 


406  GENERAL   CONCLUSION. 

that  it  was  fighting  for  justice  and  liberty.  One  always 
uprises  in  this  vocation. 

O tliers,  I  know,  have  propounded  the  problem  differ 
ently.  Will  they  succeed  ?  Such  has  been,  such  is,  such 
will  still  be  doubtless  the  principal  question.  I  am  not 
io-norant  what  the  United  States  lack  to  be  approved  and 
applauded.  A  good  cause  ?  to  be  evidently  in  the  right 
against  the  secessionists  ?  No.  They  lack  full  success. 
Let  them  but  triumph  over  the  South,  and  I  shall  have  no 
anxiety  about  their  renown  on  earth  ;  there  will  be  crowds 
of  people  everywhere  eager  to  celebrate  their  virtues  and 
greatness. 

Is  this  to  say,  that  it  is  a  waste  of  time  to  seek  to 
establish  unrecognized  truths,  to  demonstrate,  for  instance, 
that  slavery  is  the  true  cause  of  the  American  conflict  ?  I 
have  been  so  far  from  thinking  it  that  I  have  written  this 
large  volume.  Another  proof  of  my  faith  in  principles. 

They  are,  in  reality,  so  powerful,  that  we  succeed  in 
weakening  them  only  when  we  begin  to  veil  them.  The 
worshippers  of  success  know  this,  for  they  pervert  ideas 
in  order  to  succeed  in  corrupting  actions.  Every  political 
error  has  commenced  by  a  moral  error  ;  if  the  Southerners 
had  not  for  a  moment  persuaded  Europe  that  slavery  was 
not  in  question,  they  would  never  have  extorted  the  title 
of  belligerent. 

What  force  there  is  injustice!  To  be  rich,  to  be  pow 
erful,  to  be  able,  is  to  be  small ;  to  be  great,  is  to  be  the 
servant  of  justice.  Principles  prevail  as  surely  in  social 
struggles,  as  in  the  operations  of  physics  and  chemistry. 
It  may  take  long,  but  it  surely  happens  at  the  end  of  the 
reckoning. 

What  has  elected  Mr.  Lincoln  ?  What  has  created 
the  patriotic  impulse  of  the  North  ?  What  has  weakened 
the  South?  What  has  checked  Europe  ?  What  yester- 


GENERAL    CONCLUSION.  407 

day  prevented  an  impious  war  ?  What  will  perhaps  to 
morrow  constrain  the  South  itself  to  proclaim  or  to  suffer 
abolition  ?  What  has  opposed  an  insuperable  barrier  to 
interests,  intrigues  and  malevolence?  What  has  given 
to  the  Lancashire  operatives  this  resignation  worthy  of 
respect  ?  What  lias,  in  so  short  a  time,  caused  such  great 
progress  in  public  opinion?  What  provides  it  with 
weapons  in  advance  against  the  possible  return  of  the 
policy  of  intervention?  What  throws  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  the  desire,  unceasingly  springing  up  on  our  side 
the  Atlantic,  to  cut  the  United  States  in  two?  What? 
Justice. 

A  just  cause  has  something  so  triumphant  in  itself, 
that  men  dare  not  attack  it  boldly  face  to  lace.  They 
turn  round  it,  they  deny  it,  they  allirm  that  it  is  not  itself; 
for  if  it  were,  who  would  dare  sustain  the  shock? 

I  speak,  the  reader  will  comprehend,  of  just  causes 
winch  have  made  their  place  on  earth,  of  those  which  are 
such  in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  History  is  full  of  just 
causes  which  have  waited,  which  have  suffered,  which  have 
been  perfidiously  trodden  under  foot,  which  have  been 
defeated  times  without  number.  These  will  also  have 
their  turn  ;  it  lias  not  yet  come.  They  manifest  their 
superiority  alone  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  souls  by 
whom  they  are  believed,  they  win  only  internal  triumphs. 
But  let  the  day  come  when,  by  force  of  internal  triumphs 
and  external  defeats,  they  will  have  constrained  the  pub 
lic  conscience  to  give  them  recognition,  and  woe  to  those 
who  shall  wish  thenceforth  to  check  their  onward  move 
ment  ! 

Abolition  is  one  of  these  just  causes,  wrhose  advent  is 
accomplished.  The  champions  of  slavery  are  lost  in  ad 
vance  ;  they  feel  that  the  world  goes  against  them. 

This  is  why  T  am  certain  of  success  ;  this  is  why,  hav- 


408  GENERAL    CONCLUSION. 

ing  proved  that  the  great  American  people  has  taken 
sides  against  slavery,  I  call  it  a  great  people  uprising. 
The  difficulties  are  great !  Who  doubts  it  ?  Principles 
take  time  to  pass  from  the  domain  of  ideas  to  that  of 
facts !  Who  denies  it  ?  Military  operations  may  fail ! 
Who  disputes  it  ?  My  confidence  would  be  weak  indeed 
if  it  rested  on  the  skill  of  McClellan,  on  that  great  army, 
marvellously  created  in  a  few  months,  and  stretching  far 
ther  than  the  distance  from  Madrid  to  Moscow,  on  the 
prosperity  of  the  North,  on  the  ruin  of  the  South,  on  the 
discredit  of  its  notes,  which  already  are  at  a  discount  of 
forty-five  per  cent  for  gold,  on  the  need  which  it  will 
soon  perhaps  experience  of  exporting  its  two  cotton  crops, 
and  of  profiting,  to  offer  it  to  our  famishing  manufactures, 
on  the  ports  which  the  Union  fleet  will  doubtless  occupy 
and  open  within  its  limits.  The  reasons  of  my  confidence 
are  different.  I  reflect  that  a  just  cause  is  in  question,  a 
cause  which  has  gained  its  suit ;  I  look  at  the  unanimous 
convictions  of  the  nineteenth  century  ;  I  remember,  above 
all,  that  there  is  a  God. 

Yes,  you  will  be  the  stronger,  generous  defenders  of 
justice ;  you  will  be  the  stronger,  if  you  ally  yourselves 
to  justice  and  to  God.  Hope!  God  himself  has  implanted 
the  need  of  encouragement  in  the  inmost  depths  of  our 
soul.  Hope  !  Cling  to  hope,  preserve  a  serene  and  im 
pregnable  faith  in  the  triumphs  of  eternal  right. 

Danton  said  :  u  Audacity,  audacity,  and  again  audaci 
ty  !"  I  say  willingly :  "Hope,  hope,  and  again  hope!" 
This  crisis,  despite  the  suffering  that  it  includes,  will  be 
the  honor  and  consolation  of  our  times.  Never,  perhaps, 
were  matter  and  spirit  so  directly  at  strife  ;  the  question 
is  a  moral  one ;  it  is  for  America  to  know  whether  the 
Puritan  element  will  win — for  the  whole  world  to  know 
whether  liberty  and  justice  will  finally  prevail. 


GENERAL   CONCLUSION.  409 

The  whole  world,  I  have  just  said,  is  engaged  in  the 
contest.  The  uprising  of  this  people  upraises  us  also ; 
this  spectacle  of  sufferings  nobly  accepted,  does  us  good. 
We  feel  that  one  of  those  storms  which  purify  the  atmos 
phere  is  passing  at  this  moment  over  our  globe. 

Those  over  whom  it  passes  have  to  suffer ;  but  after 
the  tempest  comes  fine  weather,  and,  like  that  fleet  which, 
after  having  been  dispersed  by  the  storm,  found  itself 
again  entire  in  the  smooth  waters  of  Port  Royal,  America 
will  seem,  perhaps,  almost  to  sink  beneath  the  violence 
of  the  winds,  until  it  attain  the  end.  This  end  is  peace. 

Having  once  succeeded  in  suppressing  the  fearful  evil 
which  was  devouring  them,  the  United  States  will  not 
feel  that  their  present  sacrifices  are  disproportioned  to 
the  progress  accomplished.  Acquired  at  this  price,  the 
abolition  of  slavery  will  not  have  been  bought  too  dear. 

The  question  in  the  end  is  a  second  creation  of  the 
United  States.  This  is  carried  on  by  the  American  method, 
that  of  Washington,  that  of  the  war  of  1812,  that  which 
begins  in  weakness  and  ends  in  grandeur. 

No,  the  sixteenth  President  of  the  United  States  will 
not  be  the  last ;  no,  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  this  people 
will  not  be  the  last ;  their  flacr  will  come  out  of  battle 

Z3 

pierced  with  bullets  and  blackened  with  powder,  but 
more  glorious  than  ever,  without  having  let  fall,  as  I  hope, 
in  the  melee  a  single  one  of  its  thirty-four  stars. 


DOCUMENTARY  EVIDENCE. 


I  borrow  from  the  collections  of  official  documents  pub 
lished  by  the  American  and  English  Governments,  a  few  ex 
tracts  which  seem  to  me  suited  to  cast  much  light  on  the 
questions  so  imperfectly  known  in  Europe,  to  which  I  have 
devoted  the  first  part  of  this  work. 

NOTE    FIRST. 

[See  Part  First,  Chap.  IV.] 

THE  QUALIFICATION   OF  BELLIGERENTS   ACCORDED  TO  THE 
SOUTH. 

[Mr.  Scicard  to  Mr.  Adams] 


OF  STATE,  ) 
WASHINGTON,  June  U>,  1861.     ^ 

SIR:  On  the  loth  day  of  June  instant.  Lord  Lyons,  the  Brit 
ish  Minister,  and  Mr.  Mercier,  the  French  Minister,  residing  here, 
had  an  appointed  interview  with  me.  Each  of  those  representa 
tives  proposed  to  read  to  me  an  instruction  which  he  had  re 
ceived  from  his  Government,  and  to  deliver  me  a  copy  if  I  should 
desire  it.  I  answered  that,  in  the  present  state  of  the  correspond 
ence  between  their  respective  Governments  and  that  of  the 
United  States,  I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  know  the  characters  and 
effects  of  the  instructions,  respectively,  before  I  could  consent 
that  they  should  be  officially  communicated  to  this  Department. 
The  ministers,  therefore,  coniideritially  and  very  frankly  sub- 
18* 


412  DOCUMENTARY    EVIDENCE. 

mitted  the  papers  to  me  for  preliminary  inspection.  After  hav 
ing  examined  them  so  far  as  to  understand  their  purport,  I  de 
clined  to  hear  them  read,  or  to  receive  official  notice  of  them. 

That  paper  (that  of  Lord  Lyons)  purports  to  con 
tain  a  decision  at  which  the  British  Government  has  arrived,  to 
the  effect  that  this  country  is  divided  into  two  belligerent  par 
ties,  of  which  this  Government  represents  one,  and  that  Great 
Britain  assumes  the  attitude  of  a  neutral  between  them. 

This  Government  could  not,  consistently  with  a  just  regard 
for  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States,  permit  itself' to  debate 
these  novel  and  extraordinary  positions  with  the  Government  of 
her  Britannic  Majesty  ;  much  less  can  we  consent  that  that  Gov 
ernment  shall  announce  to  us  a  decision  derogating  from  that 
sovereignty,  at  which  it  has  arrived  without  previously  confer 
ring  with  us  upon  the  question.  The  United  States  are  still  sole 
ly  and  exclusively  sovereign  within  the  territories  they  have 
lawfully  acquired  and  long  possessed. 

What  is  now  seen  in  this  country  is  the  occurrence,  by  no 
means  peculiar  but  frequent  in  all  countries,  more  frequent  even 
in  Great  Britain  than  here,  of  an  armed  insurrection,  engaged  in 
attempting  to  overthrow  the  regularly  constituted  and  estab 
lished  Government.  There  is,  of  course,  the  employment  of  force 
by  the  Government  to  suppress  the  insurrection,  as  every  other 
Government  necessarily  employs  force  in  such  cases.  But  these 
incidents  by  no  means  constitute  a  state  of  war  impairing  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Government,  creating  belligerent  sections, 
and  entitling  foreign  States  to  intervene  or  to  act  as  neutrals 
between  them,  or  in  any  way  to  cast  off  their  lawful  obligations 
to  the  nation  thus,  for  the  moment,  disturbed.  Any  other  prin 
ciple  than  this  would  be  to  resolve  government  everywhere  into 
a  thing  of  accident  and  caprice 

It  is,  we  take  leave  to  think,  the  common  misfortune  of  the 
two  countries  that  Great  Britain  was  not  content  to  wait  before 
despatching  the  instructions  in  question,  until  you  had  been  re 
ceived  by  her  Majesty's  Government,  and  had  submitted  the  en 
tirely  just,  friendly,  and  liberal  overtures  with  which  you  were 
charged 

One  point  remains.    The  British  Government,  while  declin- 


DOCUMENTARY    EVIDENCE.  413 

ing,  out  of  regard  to  our  natural  sensibility,  to  propose  media 
tion  for  the  settlement  of  the  differences  which  now  unhappily 
divide  the  American  people,  has  nevertheless  expressed,  in  a 
very  proper  manner,  its  willingness  to  undertake  the  kindly  duty 
of  mediation,  if  we  should  de-'re  it.  The  President  expects  you 
to  say  on  this  point  to  the  Bnti-h  Government,  that  we  appre 
ciate  this  generous  and  friendly  demonstration,  hut  that  we  can 
not  solicit  or  accept  mediation  from  any,  even  the  most  friendly 
quarter.  The  conditions  of  society  here,  the  character  of  our 
Government,  the  exigencies  ot  the  country,  forbid  that  any  dis 
pute  arising  among  us  should  ever  be  referred  to  foreign  arbitra 
tion.  "NVe  are  a  republican  and  American  people.  The  Consti 
tution  of  our  Government  furnishes  all  needful  means  for  the 
correction  or  removal  of  any  possible  political  evil.  Adhering 
strictly,  as  we  do,  to  its  directions,  we  shall  surmount  all  our  pres 
ent  complications,  and  preserve  the  Government  complete,  per 
fect,  and  sound,  for  the  benefit  of  future  generations.  l>ut  the 
integrity  of  any  nation  is  lost,  and  its  fate  becomes  doubtful, 
whenever  strange  hands,  and  instruments  unknown  to  the  Con 
stitution,  are  employed  to  perform  the  proper  functions  of  the 
people,  established  by  the  organic  laws  of  the  State. 

Hoping  to  have  no  occasion  hereafter  to  speak  for  the  hearing 
of  friendly  nations  upon  the  topics  which  I  have  i.ow  discussed, 
I  add  a  Hiigle  remark,  by  way  of  satisfying  the  IJriti>h  Govern 
ment,  that  it  will  do  wisely  by  leaving  us  to  manage  and  settle 
this  domestic  controver-y  in  our  own  way  ..... 

CIIAKLES  F.  ADAMS,  &c.,  Arc. 

[Papers  Relating  to  Foreign  Affairs,  p.  91.] 


[Jl/r.  Seward  to  J/r.  Dayton.] 


PF.PARTMFNT  OF  STATE,  I 
WASHINGTON,  .Juiif  17.  1MJ1.      f 

Sin:  Every  instruction  which  this  Government  lias  given  to 
its  representatives  abroad,  since  the  recent  change  of  administra 
tion  took  place,  has  expressed  our  profound  anxiety  lest  the  dis 
loyal  citizens  who  are  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  overthrow  the 
Union  should  obtain  aid  and  assistance  from  foreign  nations 


414  DOCUMENTARY    EVIDENCE. 

either  in  the  form  of  a  recognition  of  their  pretended  sovereign 
ty,  or  in  some  other  and  more  qualified  or  guarded  manner. 
Every  instruction  has  expressed  our  full  belief  that,  without  such 
aid  or  assistance,  thfe  insurrection  would  speedily  come  to  an 
end,  while  any  advantage  that  it  could  derive  from  such  aid  or 
assistance  could  serve  no  other  purpose  than  to  protract  the  exist 
ing  struggle,  and  aggravate  the  evils  it  is  inflicting  on  our  own 
country  and  on  foreign  and  friendly  nations. 

We  have  intended  not  to  leave  it  doubtful  that  a  concession 
of  sovereignty  to  the  insurgents,  though  it  should  be  indirect  or 
unofficial,  or  though  it  should  be  qualified  so  as  to  concede  only 
belligerent  or  other  partial  rights,  would  be  regarded  as  incon 
sistent  with  the  relations  due  to  us  by  friendly  nations. 

That  paper  (the  paper  which  Mr.  Seward  had  refused  to  hear 
read)  does  not  expressly  deny  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States  of  America;  but  it  does' assume,  inconsistently  with  that 
sovereignty,  that  the  United  States  are  not  altogether  and  for  all 
purposes  one  sovereign  power,  but  that  this  nation  consists  of 
two  parties,  of  which  this  Government  is  one.  France  proposes 
to  take  cognizance  of  both  parties  as  belligerents. 

This  Government  insists  that  the  United  States  are  one,  whole, 
undivided  nation,  especially  so  far  as  foreign  nations  are  con 
cerned,  and  that  France  is,  by  the  law  of  nations  and  by  treaties, 
not  a  neutral  power  between  two  imaginary  parties  here,  but  a 
friend  of  the  United  States 

It  is  erroneous,  so  far  as  foreign  nations  are  concerned,  to 
suppose  that  any  war  exists  in  the  United  States.  Certainly, 
there  cannot  be  two  belligerent  powers  where  there  is  no  war. 
There  is  here,  as  there  has  always  been,  one  political  power, 
namely,  the  United  States  of  America,  competent  to  make  war 
and  peace,  and  conduct  commerce  and  alliances  with  all  foreign 
nations.  There  is  none  other,  either  in  fact,  or  recognized  by 
foreign  nations.  There  is,  indeed,  an  armed  sedition  seeking  to 
overthrow  the  Government,  and  the  Government  is  employ  ing  mili 
tary  and  naval  forces  to  repress  it.  But  these  facts  do  not  consti 
tute  a  war  presenting  two  belligerent  powers,  and  modifying  the 
national  character,  rights,  and  responsibilities,  or  the  characters, 
rights,  and  responsibilities  of  foreign  nations.  It  is  true  that  in- 


DOCUMENTARY    EVIDENCE.  415 

surrcction  may  ripen  into  revolution,  and  that  revolution,  thus 
ripened,  may  extinguish  a  previously  existing  State,  or  divide  it 
into  one  or  more  independent  States,  and  that,  if  such  States 
continue  their  strife  after  such  division,  then  there  exists  a  state 
of  war  allecting  the  characters,  rights,  and  duties  of  all  parties 
concerned.  But  this  only  happens  when  the  revolution  has  run 
its  successful  course 

Tlie  United  States  will  maintain  and  defend  their  sovereignty 
throughout  the  bounds  of  the  Republic,  and  they  deem  all  other 
nations  Ifound  to  respect  that  sovereignty  until,  if  ever,  Provi 
dence  shall  consent  that  it  shall  be  successfully  overthrown.  Any 
system  of  public  law  or  national  morality  that  conflicts  with  this, 
would  resolve  society,  first  in  this  hemisphere,  and  then  in  the 
other,  into  anarchy  and  chaos 

The  case,  as  it  now  stands,  is  the  simple,  ordinary  one  that 
has  happened  at  all  times  and  in  all  countries  A  discontented 
domestic,  faction  seeks  foreign  intervention  to  overthrow  the 
Constitution  and  the  liberties  of  its  own  country.  Such  inter 
vention,  if  yielded,  is  ultimately  disastrous  to  the  cause  it  is  de 
signed  to  aid. 

Down  deep  in  the  heart  of  the  American  people — deeper  than 
the  love  of  trade,  or  of  freedom — deeper  than  the  attachment  to 
any  local  or  sectional  interest,  or  partisan  pride,  or  individual 
ambition— deeper  than  any  other  sentiment,  is  that  one  out  of 
which  the  Constitution  of  this  Union  arose,  namely,  American 
independence— independence  of  all  foreign  control,  alliance,  or 
influence.  Next  above  it  lies  the  conviction  that  neither  peace, 
nor  safety,  nor  public  liberty,  nor  prosperity,  nor  greatness,  nor 
empire,  can  be  attained  here  with  the  sacrifice  of  the  unity  of  the 
people  of  North  America. 

WILLIAM  L.  DAYTON,  Esq.,  &c.,  &c. 

[Papers  relating  to  Foreign  Affairs,  p.  208.] 


416  DOCUMENTARY   EVIDENCE. 

NOTE   SECOND. 

[See  Part  First,  Chap.  III.] 
IS   SLAVERY   EEALLY   IN  QUESTION? 

[Mr.  Black  (Sec.  of  State)  to  all  the  Ministers  of  the  United  States.] 

CIRCULAR. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  ) 
"WASHINGTON,  February  28,4 SGI.        | 

SIR  :  You  are,  of  course,  aware  that  the  election  of  last  No- 
vember  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln  ;  that  he 
was  the  candidate  of  the  republican  or  anti-slavery  party  ;  that 
the  preceding  discussion  had  been  confined  almost  entirely  to 
topics  connected,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  the  subject  of  ne 
gro  slavery ;  that  every  Northern  State  cast  its  whole  electoral 
vote  (except  three  in  New  Jersey)  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  while  in  the 
whole  South  the  popular  sentiment  against  him  was  almost  abso 
lutely  universal. 

[Papers  relating  to  Foreign  Affairs,  p.  15.] 


NOTE   THIRD. 

[See  Part  T/iird,  Chap.  V.] 

FACTS  EXPLAINING  THE  SUPERIORITY  POSSESSED  AT  THE  FIRST 
MOMENT   BY   THE   SOUTH. 

\Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Adams.] 

DEPARTMENT  OP  STATE,  | 
WASHINGTON,  April  10,  1S61.        j 

One  needs  to  be  as  conversant  with  our  federative  system  as 
perhaps  only  American  publicists  can  be  to  understand  how 
effectually,  in  the  first  instance,  such  a  revolutionary  movement 
must  demoralize  the  General  Government.  "We  are  not  only  a 
nation,  but  we  are  States  also.  All  public  officers,  as  well  as  all 
citizens,  owe  not  only  allegiance  to  the  Union,  but  allegiance  also 
to  the  States  in  which  they  reside.  In  the  more  discontented 


DOCUMENTARY    EVIDENCE.  417 

States  the  local  magistrates  and  other  officers  cast  off  at  once 
their  Federal  allegiance,  and  conventions  were  held  which  as 
sumed  to  absolve  their  citizens  from  the  same  obligations.  Even 
Federal  judges,  marshals,  clerks,  and  revenue  officers  resigned 
their  trusts.  Intimidation  deterred  loyal  persons  from  accepting 
the  offices  thus  rendered  vacant.  So  the  most"  important  facul 
ties  of  the  Federal  Government  in  those  States  abruptly  ceased. 
The  most  popular  motive  in  these  discontents  was  an  appre 
hension  of  designs  on  the  part  of  the  incoming  Federal  adminis 
tration  hostile  to  the  institution  of  domestic  slavery  in  the  States 
where  it  is  tolerated  by  the  local  constitutions  and  laws.  That 
institution  and  the  class  which  especially  cherishes  it  are  not 
confined  to  the  States  which  have  seceded,  but  they  exist  in  the 
eight  other  so-called  slave  States,  and  these,  for  that  reason, 
sympathize  profoundly  with  the  revolutionary  movement.  Sym 
pathies  and  apprehensions  of  this  kind  have,  for  an  indefinite  pe 
riod,  entered  into  the  basis  of  political  parties  throughout  the 
whole  country,  and  thus  considerable  ma>ses  of  person-;  whose 
ultimate  loyalty  could  not  be  doubted,  were  found,  even  in  the 
free  States,  either  justifying,  excusing,  or  palliating  the  move 
ment  toward  disunion  in  the  seceding  States.  The  party  which 
was  dominant  in  the  Federal  Government  during  the  period  of 
the  last  administration  embraced,  practically,  and  held  in  unre 
served  communion,  all  disunionists  and  sympathizers.  It  held 
the  Executive  administration.  The  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury, 
"NVar,  and  the  Interior  were  disunionists.  The  same  party  held  a 
largo  majority  of  the  Senate,  and  nearly  equally  divided  the 
House  of  Representatives.  Disaffection  lurked,  if  it  did  not 
openly  avow  itself,  in  every  department  and  in  every  bureau,  in 
every  regiment  and  in  every  ship-of-war  ;  in  the  post-office  and 
in  the  custom-house,  and  in  every  legation  and  consulate,  from 
London  to  Calcutta.  Of  four  thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy 
officers  in  the  public  service,  civil  and  military,  two  thousand 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four  were  representatives  of  States  where 
the  revolutionary  movement  \vas  openly  advocated  and  urged, 
even  if  not  actually  organized.  Our  system  being  so  completely 
federative  and  representative,  no  provision  had  ever  been  made, 
perhaps  none  ever  could  have  been  made,  to  anticipate  this 


418  DOCUMENTARY  EVIDENCE. 

strange  and  unprecedented  disturbance.  The  people  -were 
shocked  by  successive  and  astounding  developments  of  what  the 
statute  book  distinctly  pronounced  to  be  sedition  and  treason, 
but  the  magistracy  was  demoralized  and  the  laws  were  power 
less.  By  degrees,  however,  a  better  sentiment  revealed  itself. 
The  Executive  administration  hesitatingly,  in  part,  reformed  it 
self.  The  capital  was  garrisoned ;  the  new  President  came  in 
unresisted,  and  soon  constituted  a  new  and  purely  loyal  adminis 
tration.  They  found  the  disunion ists  perse veringly  engaged  in 
raising  armies  and  laying  sieges  around  national  fortifications, 
situate  within  the  territory  of  the  disaffected  States.  The  Federal 
marine  seemed  to  have  been  scattered  everywhere  except  where 
its  presence  was  necessary,  and  such  of  the  military  forces  as 
were  not  in  the  remote  States  or  Territories  were  held  back 
from  activity  by  vague  and  mysterious  armistices,  which  had 
been  informally  contracted  by  the  late  President,  or  under  his 
authority,  with  a  view  to  postpone  conflict  until  impracticable 
concessions  to  disunion  should  be  made  by  Congress,  or,  at  least, 
until  the  waning  term  of  his  administration  should  read)  its  ap 
pointed  end.  Commissioners,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  new 
Confederacy,  were  already  at  the  capital,  demanding  recognition 
of  its  sovereignty  and  a  partition  of  the  national  property  and 
domain.  The  treasury,  depleted  by  robbery  and  peculation,  was 
exhausted,  and  the  public  credit  was  prostrate. 

It  being  assumed  that  peaceful  separation  is  in  harmony  with 
the  Constitution,  it  was  urged,  as  a  consequence,  that  coercion 
would,  therefore,  be  unlawful  and  tyrannical ;  and  this  principle 
was  even  pushed  so  far  as  to  make  the  defensive  retaining  by  the 
Federal  Government  of  its  position  within  the  limits  of  the  se 
ceding  States,  or  where  it  might  seem  to  overawe  or  intimidate 
them,  an  act  of  such  forbidden  coercion.  Thus  it  happened  that, 
for  a  long  time,  and  in  very  extensive  districts  even,  fidelity  to 
the  Union  manifested  itself  by  demanding  a  surrender  of  its 
powers  and  possessions,  and  compromises  with  or  immunity 
toward  those  who  were  engaged  in  overthrowing  it  by  armed 
force. 

[Papers  relating  to  Foreign  Affairs,  p.  55.] 


DOCUMENTARY   EVIDENCE.  419 

NOTE    FOURTH. 

[See  Part  Fourth,  Chap.  /T] 
THE   PART   OF   SPAIN    IN   THE   MEXICAN  EXPEDITION. 

The  Blue  Book  published  by  the  English  Government  on 
the  negotiations  which  preceded  the  Mexican  Expedition, 
contains  a  despatch  from  Sir  John  Crampton,  which  thus  sets 
forth  the  disposition  (at  that  time)  of  the  Spanish  Govern 
ment  : 

u  The  Government  of  Her  Catholic  Majesty  is  of  the  opinion 
that  it  would  be  well  for  the  combined  forces  to  >eek  to  profit 
by  the  impression  which  cannot  fail  to  be  produced  amon^  the 
Mexican  people,  to  exercise  a  moral  influence  over  the  contend 
ing  parties,  to  bring  them  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  come  to 
an  understanding,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  form  a  Government 
which  may  offer  to  the  nlli»-<  some  guarantee  of  the  aceiimplish- 
ment  of  the  engagements  contracted  toward  them,  and  of  tho 
more  faithful  observation,  in  the  future,  of  international  obliga 
tions — a  Government  which  may  give  some  hope,  at  least,  of  see 
ing  an  end  put  to  the  miseries  to  which  this  unfortunate  country 
has  been  exposed." 

This  lanjruaire  forms  an  evident  contrast  to  that  of  England 
proclaiming  the  absolute  determination  to  exercise  no  influence 
whatever  over  the  Internal  affairs  of  Mexico  and  the  form  of  its 
Government. 

We  will  add  that  Spain,  which  had  just  effected  a  first  colo 
nial  restoration  in  St.  Domingo,  was  at  this  moment  taking  all 
the  initiative  measures  against  Mexico;  first,  negotiation  ;  then, 
active  operations.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  despatch  of 
its  quota  to  Vera  Cruz  preceded  that  of  France  and  England. 


ALSO  JUST  READY. 


A    NEW    AND    REVISED    EDITION    OF    THE 

UPRISING  OF  A  GREAT  PEOPLE; 

TO    WHICH     IS    ADDED 

A  WOlil)    OF    PEACE 

ON    THE 

tottowt  (gnglani  anft  %  Snitrt  States. 

By   COUNT  DE   QASPARIN. 
TRANSLATED  BY   MISS   MAIIY  L,  BOOTH. 

1  Vol.  12mo,  300  pages.    Price,  75  cents. 


This  edition  has  been  carefully  revised  to  conform  to  the  new  edi 
tion  of  the  original  work,  just  published  at  Paris.  The  author  lias 
corrected  several  errors  of  fact,  which  were  noted  by  American  re 
viewers  on  the  appearance  of  the  translation,  and  has  also  made  sun 
dry  changes  in  the  work,  designed  to  bring  it  down  to  the  present 
time. — Extract  from  Translators  Preface. 

"  We  have  as  yet  seen  no  American  publication  of  any  kind,  which  can  bear 
comparison  with  this  French  work,  in  jioint  of  fervent  /-a!  tor  tin-  cause  of  Free 
dom,  order,  and  progress,  as  involved  in  our  existing  civil  w;ir.  We  hope  the 
translation  will  have  extensive  currency,  f..r  it  cannot  fail  to  inspire  and  nourish 
true  patriotism." — Xurth  American  /teciew. 

"America  may  well  accept  the  views  and  cnunscN  of  so  genuine  a  friend  and 
BO  pure  and  noble  a  spirit  MS  (ia^parin.  Mo-t  In  -at  tilv  do  we  recommend  to  tho 
attention  of  tho  American  people  the  thoughtful  und  hopeful  utterances  of  this 
their  noble  friend."— Mtthodixt  (quarterly. 

''The  thorough  intellectual  mastery  of  the  subject  determines  the  Duality  of 
the  book,  the  moral  warmth  which  runs  latent  through  it-  (breaking  at  times  into 
an  eloquence-  which  fairly  burns) — takes  its  power  from  the  weight  of  his  facts  and 
the  force  of  his  logic.  There  is  in  his  treatment  of  the  question  a  wise  modera 
tion  that  carries  with  it  convinc.ng  force." — A".  }'.  Times. 

''  It  is  tlie  wisest  book  which  has  been  written  upon  America  since  De  Tocque- 
ville.  *  *  *  Remarkable  for  its  intelligence,  its  insight,  its  logic,  und  its  noble 
ness  of  purpose." — A7.  Y.  Evening  Pout. 

'•It  seems  to  possess  almost  the  charm  of  inspiration.  lie  who  would  under 
stand  the  American  question — who  would  read  a  discussion  of  it  in  a  spirit  kind 
and  conciliatory,  yet  with  a  logic  irresistible,  should  ponder  these  pages."— N.  Y. 
Christian  Advocate  and  Journal. 

"  A  most  extraordinary  book.  It  gives  the  fullest  and  most  complete  discus 
sion  of  the  causes  which  led  to  the  great  uprising  of  our  people,  the  nature  of  this 
crisis  in  our  history  as  a  nation,  and  its  probable  issues.  *  *  *  It  is  the  fairest, 
roblest,  and  ablest  defence  of  this  country,  our  people,  our  institutions,  ofitsjuture, 
even,  if  we  may  so  speak,  as  well  as  its  'past,  which  the  world  has  ever  seen."— JV. 
Y.  World. 


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SEP  24|  19ft 


J('DB279slO)<i76'B 


J* 


REC'D  LD 


LD  21-50m-8,-32 

University  of  California 
Berkeley 


2G 


223 


